#i arranged for my friend to go meet him to bring me some toiletries and all he said was 'i'm doing great'

[disengaged]

not to be self-centred and an attention whore but 🤡 my roommate hasn't texted me once since i told him i got locked up. lol. idk why i even bothered telling him i'm in here, all he said was "please be safe" and then radio silence for 5 days. we used to be friends but idk anymore

[haildoodles-writing]

And So We Sing in Elegies -- Chapter 5 

Oberyn Martell x reader

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4

A/N: hello everyone! So sorry for being MIA, covid hit me like a train last month and threw my motivation into the gutter lol. Reading your lovely comments has been a huge motivator for me to keep going, though, and so I pushed myself back into the writing groove and finished this chapter hahaha. Love you all! 

Word Count: 4.2k

Warnings: none

The walk back to your quarters was . . . complicated, to say the least.

After Oberyn had left his chambers, you tidied the room in silence before changing into your riding clothes from the day prior. The pants and tunic were stiff from dust and wind, making it uncomfortable to put back on--but you would much rather be stuffed into awkwardly-fitting clothes than have to slink through the halls in Oberyn’s robe. Had anyone caught you wearing his attire . . .

You didn’t want to cause any rumors. You couldn’t afford to. 

You are my friend, he had told you earlier--pleaded, even, as if he were trying to convince you that it was true. 

And it was. Of course it was. 

But despite the bond you two shared, you were still a maid serving a prince. You were miles below him, and that distance came with rules. Protocols. And to a man where jurisdiction was at his fingertips and love came at no price, you weren’t sure he would understand why you stuck to them so closely. You weren’t sure he could. 

You shook your head as you crossed the building to the servants’ wing, stifling the thoughts as quickly as they came. You didn’t have the energy to think about it any longer--not after what had just happened. 

You were certain that you wouldn’t be seeing Oberyn for a while. Situations like that usually ended in him finding some place to isolate himself and think, whether it be the gardens or the library--or even the sparring ring, if he couldn’t shake off his anger enough. You wouldn’t have been surprised if he ended up in the latter. 

Though you didn’t blame him much for it. His anger was out of protection, and you understood why. Had the roles been reversed, had Oberyn been the one pushed into an arranged marriage against his will . . . you would have responded the same. 

You prayed that he wouldn’t affect him for much longer, though, and that he would calm down soon enough. And that eventually, maybe, he would become numb to it. Just as you were beginning to be. 

The servants’ wing was lively when you arrived, more so than it usually would have been at that hour. A glance into a few open doorways and at a few scurrying maids answered your question: they were all packing. They were to leave for the Old Palace tomorrow, you remembered--and they would arrive a day before you. 

Thankfully, no one paid you any mind as you hurried down the halls, likely too preoccupied with putting together their own belongings to give you much notice. A few familiar faces glanced your way as you passed--but you kept walking, slinking back into the crowd before they could recognize you. 

Much to your relief, your chambers were quiet when you entered--and so you went about gathering a spare set of clothes, a towel, and a few toiletries as quickly as you could. You wanted to sneak to the bathhouse before Khaegan came in. Or anyone else, for that matter. 

After stuffing everything into a cloth bag, you locked the door and changed into a bathrobe and sandals. You threw your riding clothes into a heap at the foot of your bed—you didn’t have the time to wash them now. You didn’t have the energy to, either.

The moment you finished changing, you collapsed onto the edge of your bed and released a heavy, quiet sigh. You nearly considered lying there for a while, perhaps slipping in a nap before you bathed and inevitably went back to your duties—

As if on cue, a knock sounded at the door. You nearly groaned. 

It was a feat to get your feet underneath you again, but eventually you crossed the room and unlocked the door with clumsy fingers. And beyond it . . .

“I didn’t expect you back so soon,” Khaegan said, his face blank as he leaned against the doorway. Judging by his lack of surprise, you presumed he had seen you in the hallway and followed you back. Probably. 

You shrugged, turning back to collect your things as he stepped further into the room. “I arrived late last night,” you told him. “I’ve been with the prince since then.” 

At that, Khaegan raised a brow--but he closed his mouth when you shot him a dry look. 

You grew quiet as he rummaged around his side of the room, pulling clothes and toiletries and a random assortment of items from the boxes underneath his bed. He dropped everything into an old, fraying wool bag at his side. Only when he was finished did he turn to look at you.

His eyes flicked around your side of the room--likely looking for your own luggage. “Are you not packing?” he asked.

“I suppose I forgot to tell you,” you chuckled, “I’m leaving a day after you all. The prince wishes for me to travel with his escorts.”

To his credit, Khaegan didn’t seem fazed by your comment. You suppose it made sense, after all, for you to travel with Oberyn instead of the other servants; your job required you to be close to him as much as possible, especially since you were his only handmaiden--at least at the Water Gardens. 

You wondered why that was. 

Khaegan let out a loud, dramatic sigh as he sat on the side of his bed. “Disappointing,” he muttered. “I was rather looking forward to watching you blush over the prince on our journey there.” 

“Bite me,” you huffed. Khaegan merely laughed. 

Being the perceptive one he was, it didn’t take long after you met for Khaegan to realize your feelings for the prince. Though, you weren’t necessarily inconspicuous about it; unlike your chambermate, you were never good at hiding your emotions. And so Khaegan had to witness your years-long pining over the prince, but he never once pressured you to speak of it unless you felt inclined to do so. 

. . . Though you never outrightly expressed how you felt about him. And truth be told, you weren’t necessarily sure how you felt about him yourself. It was just a flurry of emotions and feelings--some that came in passing fancies and others that made home inside your chest. You weren’t sure you could put it into words, even if you tried. 

You assume it’s because you refused to acknowledge it for so long.

Khaegan didn’t respond to your jab, and you allowed yourself to bask in the quiet--so at odds with the commotion beyond the door--for a moment longer. But then, just as you shouldered your bag and stood, his next words stopped you. 

“Why have you returned so soon?”

 . . . You paused. 

And then you took in a breath. Another. 

“Things . . . didn’t turn out well, with my parents,” you offered. To your own surprise, it wasn’t difficult to spit out. You supposed that it was because you had already said enough with Oberyn; what was one more confession?

For a minute, Khaegan paused. 

“Do you want to speak with me about it?”

“I . . .” You chewed on your lip. 

At first, you weren’t sure you wanted to--weren’t sure that you had the strength to. But the longer you thought about it, the more you realized that you should. Kaegan was the closest friend you had--and, more than that, he was one of the few you trusted.

“I suppose I need to,” you whispered. “Just . . .” 

Khaegan watched as you tensed under his scrutiny. And you tried--you tried--to straighten yourself, to throw your shoulders back and release the tension in your arms until you appeared relatively normal. But that weight, the one that hung like a millstone around your neck, gave it all away. 

“Why don’t you clean up,” he offered. “Then we can talk.” 

 ☼‐‐‐‐☼‐‐‐‐☼‐‐‐‐☼‐‐‐‐☼

 You told him everything. 

. . . Well, nearly everything. You couldn’t bring yourself to go into too much detail, despite the fact that you knew you should. You promised that you would tell him in time. Just . . . not now.

Khaegan was still seated on his bed when you returned from the bathhouse, and he waited patiently until you gathered your thoughts together. And when you eventually confessed, he sat there in relative silence, only speaking up occasionally when he needed more clarification--the whos, the whats, the hows--

Though, he never pushed too far. He never asked why, either. You were grateful for it.

Once you were finished, you waited for a minute as Khaegan’s gaze turned shallow--likely processing everything. You weren’t bothered by it. 

Eventually he spoke up--and unlike you, he wasn’t one to palter. 

“What will you do?” 

His face was impassive--it had been since you began to spill. It was normal for him to take in information before reacting, though. You didn’t expect any emotion-driven comments from him any time soon. 

“My parents will send a letter with the location of the suitor’s estate, and I’ll meet with him soon after,” you shrugged. It sounded monotonous--and by that point, you were sure it had to be. 

“And then?” Khaegan pushed. You knew what he was pressuring you to say. 

And then . . .

You swallowed thickly.

“I’ll marry him,” you whispered, and it felt heavy on your tongue. And as they fell from your lips, you realized it was the first time you had spoken it aloud. The first time you had truly and openly confirmed it. 

I’ll marry him.

It was final.

In front of you, Khaegan rested his elbows on his thighs. “Though you don’t want to,” he concluded quietly. His eyes flicked over your face, your posture, taking everything in. 

Processing. Always processing.

“If I’m being completely truthful . . . part of me does,” you admitted to him. “If I don’t marry now, I likely won’t have the opportunity to again. And I’m not going to leave my family behind, either. So I suppose that in doing this . . .” You shrugged. “It kills two birds with one stone, so to speak. I told the prince the same.” The words were still raw from when you spoke to Oberyn, though, merely an hour or so prior. Saying them still hurt.

Perhaps if you repeated them enough, they wouldn’t weigh you down as they do now. Perhaps they would lose their meaning, and saying them wouldn’t feel like you were trying to breathe around a blade in your chest anymore. And maybe the weights hanging from your neck would shatter, too, and you would finally be able to move without breaking.

For a minute, Khaegan didn’t respond. He simply sat there and waited, watching as you finally hunched over and buried your head in your hands--

You didn’t look up as you heard shuffling, and then the quiet sound of footsteps. And then the bed dipped, and he was next to you, pressing a tentative palm against your back.

Khaegan wasn’t one for touch. He was protective of his own personal space, and any invasion made him uncomfortable--it always had been. So the fact that he had moved to your side, sitting close to you, offering a supportive hand because he knew how much you needed it . . . 

Your eyes burned.

“You’ll be alright,” he whispered, his voice flowing through you like a gentle tide. And for a moment, it was enough to calm you, enough to soothe your frazzled mind and rushing thoughts--

“I know I will,” you croaked. 

I will. I will. I will--

Your hands dropped to your lap, and everything around you began to grow blurry. Somewhere deep inside you, you felt the last remaining piece of your strength crack. 

You began to sob. 

 ☼‐‐‐‐☼‐‐‐‐☼‐‐‐‐☼‐‐‐‐☼

 Khaegan and the rest of the staff left early the next morning. 

The switch in workers was, unsurprisingly, an ordeal that lasted quite some time. Overnight, the servants stationed at the Old Palace arrived in small waves in an attempt to make the transition smoother--which was successful, of course, but it didn’t make the Water Gardens any less loud. 

Unlike your chambermate, you found yourself tossing and turning as you tried to sleep. Over time you grew irritated at the constant bustle--and when that irritation manifested into clenched fists, a large headache, and a heavy weight behind your eyes that refused to fade, you climbed from your bed and trudged through the hallways with a heady sigh. The blanket you brought with you was hung loosely around your shoulders, and you managed to shuck on a pair of sandals before you left. Luckily, no one paid you any attention as you wandered. 

To where, you didn’t know. Just . . . somewhere. Wherever, as long as it didn’t claw at your ears any longer. 

Your head still ached from the previous day’s events--and your body was still exhausted from the past two. It had begun to wear on you, little by little, and now you were left completely defenseless. Usually, noisy quarters and a lively atmosphere just beyond your door was something you could sleep through--but tonight, as if the gods had cursed you, sleep was no easy feat. Relaxation wasn’t one, either. Eventually, you became so overwhelmed that your eyes burned of frustrated tears. All you wanted to do was to rest.

And so, needless to say, the sigh that washed through you as you wandered further into the estate gardens nearly toppled you over. You could feel yourself relax with each step down the cobblestone path--and, unsurprisingly, with each step came more exhaustion. 

Eventually, you found yourself in an alcove towards the edges of the gardens, a few turns past the drawing desk you so frequented. It was a place that you visited often, somewhere most of the servants were unaware of--or at least were too busy to discover. For the most part, you could call it your own. 

The alcove was small, roughly around the size of your own chambers, and mainly consisted of a handful of wooden chairs and a circular table--though at the furthest end from the entrance was a long settee, with an arch of vines nearly concealing it from view. It was exactly what you were looking for. 

In an instant, you collapsed onto the settee and threw the blanket over you. The air that night was cool enough for you to be comfortable as you laid there--and you found your hands unclenching and your eyes drooping almost immediately. The rustling of leaves in the wind and the blinking stars above felt like a lullaby. 

It didn’t take you long to fully relax. 

You didn’t realize that you had fallen asleep, however, until a hand on your shoulder jolted you awake. 

Oberyn. 

Why does he always seem to find you?

“My dove, why are you sleeping out here?” 

Turning on your side, you found that he was crouched next to you, his head tilted as he stared at you. He was dressed in a loose, burnt orange robe, one that looked almost burgundy in the deep blue night. Likely his nightclothes--or, well, his wandering clothes, as you liked to call them, as it was usually something he threw on just so he didn’t look too improper when he wandered the halls. 

And as he watched you, despite the worry on his face and the crease between his brows, he looked . . . calm. Mellow. The curls brushing his forehead twisted and twirled in the late night breeze, and his eyes glowed and flickered in time with the stars above him—

You wanted to paint it. Paint him.

Though, that wasn’t anything new, was it?

As you sat up, you shrugged. “I couldn’t fall asleep. The servants’ wing is quite lively at the moment.” 

At that, Oberyn paused.

“Why didn’t you come to my chambers, then? You know you are welcome there.” He seemed . . . well, confused, at the fact that you didn’t disturb him, didn’t wake him by creeping into his rooms to fall asleep on his settee or something of the sort--

“I needed some quiet. It’s . . . rather peaceful here.” 

And you’re too timid to face him, you thought. Not after earlier.

Why would he want you in his chambers after that?

A small, almost sheepish smile tugged at his lips. “Well, if I’m intruding, I can leave you be--”

“No, no,” you interrupted, and it was much louder than you intended. You bit your lip.  “I mean . . . you’re welcome to stay, if you’d like.” 

He hesitated for a moment--as if examining you, trying to deduce if you really wanted him there. But then, before you could say anything more, he smiled, smoothing down his robe as he came to sit next to you. Again, not too close, just in case . . .

“I thought you could sleep through such noise,” A small, cheeky smirk pulled at Oberyn’s lips. “You certainly did last time.” 

“I beg of you, don’t torment me again,” you groaned--a sound that was drowned out by his laughter. It was one banquet, and he never seemed to let it go--

“It’s much more difficult to remain asleep when my chamber door screeches every time it opens,” you sighed. Though you couldn’t hide your smile. 

At that, Oberyn chuckled. “Remind me to have someone replace that.” 

You almost protested--surely a rickety servant door wasn’t enough for a Dornish prince to send for aid--but you knew that objecting would only make him fix it faster. He was always like that.

Hard-headed, you thought.

But then, as you took in the man at your side, a realization came to you. “Why are you awake, my prince?” 

He hummed. “Oddly enough, the rest of the estate isn’t any quieter. I thought a walk would do me well,” he answered. And then you saw how his eyes glimmered--

“Though, I did come out to simply walk. I didn’t plan to find you asleep in the farthest alcove from the estate.” You pushed at his shoulder, and his resulting laugh echoed throughout the alcove. It was thrumming and bright, and it warmed your skin like sunshine. “You mock me,” you muttered. 

“Only sometimes,” he smirked, throwing you a wink. “When you deserve it.” 

You rolled your eyes.

And then, before you could help it, you yawned. 

Loudly. 

Oberyn laughed at that, and you felt your face grow warm out of sheer embarrassment--

“You should sleep, my dove,” he told you. “Though not out here. I can prepare my rooms for you--”

“No,” you objected. It was a little louder than you had hoped. “No, that’s alright.” 

You didn’t want to intrude, not again. No matter how much he insisted.

You wept last night, in your sleep, he had told you yesterday. And it didn’t take long after that for you to shatter in front of him. 

. . . You didn’t want to risk him seeing that again. 

Oberyn must have noticed something in your face, in your tone--because after a minute, he gave up. He only hummed in response.

You both fell quiet, and you felt Oberyn’s eyes on you as you fiddled the hem of your blanket. You couldn’t meet his gaze. And in that moment, you were surprised that he hadn’t brought up the unspoken issue between you both yet, the floating question that turned the air so thick it was hard to breathe--

The words slipped out of you before you could think twice.  “About earlier . . .” you swallowed. “I hope I didn’t upset you too much--”

Oberyn cut you off. “Nonsense,” he said. “My feelings shouldn’t be placed above your own. In this case, especially.” 

He paused, then, and you felt his gaze on you--taking you in, analyzing you once again. Likely noticing your hunched shoulders, your puffy eyes, the way your body just yearned for some peace--

“Besides,” he offered, “something like this is much better suited for daylight, hm?” He tilted his head as he looked at you, and you fought the urge to shrink under his gaze. “The night has no use for such solemnity.” 

He was always the more logical one between the two of you. The wiser one. 

Eventually, you agreed. “Perhaps it would be better to discuss after your name day, wouldn’t it.” And it was, in all honesty, the best decision--you had preparations to take care of, and you were traveling in less than a day’s time, and you hadn’t so much as gotten the location to your suitor’s estate--

“Perhaps,” Oberyn shrugged, pulling you from your thoughts as he turned his gaze to the alcove before you. And in that moment, you realized that his lightheartedness was more for your sake than for his. That he would continue to remain casual, at least until the air was lighter and your shoulders felt less heavy. And it worked.

You were grateful for it.

Oberyn didn’t let the moment stew longer, though, and he let out a deep sigh as he rubbed his hands on his thighs. “I deem that this calls for something to brighten the mood,” he grinned. He shifted to reach into his robe pocket, and it was only then that you realized he had hidden something there. In the darkness, however, all you could make out was a thin, long bump.

“I’d loathe to see your gift be hidden away in my drawers again, after all.” 

At that, you perked up, and your eyes widened. You couldn’t help it—and Oberyn knew it too, which is why it only made him laugh harder.

“A gift?” You swallowed. “Oberyn, if this is about the other day—“

“It’s not.” 

He held up the object--wrapped in cloth and secured with a piece of twine--between you both. And when he spoke again, his voice was soft. “Consider it an early name day gift.”

You took it from him carefully, eyeing him for a moment until he motioned for you to continue. And so you tugged on the string, unfurling the gift onto your lap--

“. . . A paintbrush,” you breathed. An expensive one at that; you hadn’t seen a pure rosewood brush in years, let alone one that was made with sable hair--

Oberyn let out a chuckle as your fingers fluttered around the brush.  “It’s from Oldtown,” he explained. “I purchased it during my last trip.” 

“That was months ago,” you pointed out. Had he . . .

“I stored it away for safekeeping,” he answered. “I was planning on gifting it to you on your name day, but . . . the situation called for it.”

You let out a deep breath. “It’s beautiful,” you marveled. Gently, your thumb ran over the bristles, over the small etching in the wood just beneath it: your name. 

And in that moment, you nearly chuckled at your own awe, at how you handled the brush so gently. How were you supposed to dirty something so priceless?

“Why give me this now, may I ask? I would assume that it’s in recompense for that charcoal breaking days ago, but this seems much too big a gift so something so simple,” you laughed. And though you didn’t want to, you forced yourself to put the brush down as softly as you could. Oberyn remained oddly quiet as you did so--but when you eventually looked at him again, you saw a small smile adorning his face. 

“You . . .” He swallowed.

You sobered almost immediately.

“I’ve always known that you’ve been treated unfairly. Life has dealt you bitter cards.” With a gentle hand, he reached down and touched the brush, running his fingers over the engraving on its ferrule once. Twice. A third time.

“Until yesterday, I wasn’t aware just how bitter those cards were.” 

You felt your throat grow thick. 

Though you tried not to acknowledge it, you knew his words were true. And sometimes you wished that you had gotten something better--that the man you were fated to marry all those years ago was good, that you never had to grovel and steal after fighting against your own blood--

You never would have met Oberyn, though, you thought. 

The evening grew quiet, then, and you simply watched as Oberyn continued to run his fingers over the brush. 

Life brought you to him. 

For some reason. 

Eventually, Oberyn released a heady breath. “I want you to know that you are safe here,” he promised. Your eyes flicked to his own, then, only to find that he was already staring at you. The intensity in his gaze, the emotion, flooded into you like the sea. 

“No matter what happens, I will protect you,” he whispered. 

The weight of those hit the ground like stone. 

For a moment, you simply sat there, your breathing heavy and your hands shaking as everything began to settle. You couldn’t find the words to respond--you didn’t think you ever would, either. 

He promised--he swore--to protect you. And for him, to make an oath . . .

Before you thought twice, you took his hand and raised it to your lips, pressing a kiss against his knuckles. His skin was warm, comforting, thrumming with a vibrancy that you wanted to drown yourself in--

When you opened your eyes, you saw his own burning into you. 

And you found that, though you wanted to shrink under his stare, you couldn’t look away.

“I know,” you whispered. “I know.”

You didn’t release his hand.

General Taglist: @mutantsandproud​, @gollyderek​, @mrsparknuts​, @readsalot73​ @toilet-keeper​ @bluemoon-glen​ @talesfromtheguild @lin-djarin​ @sarahjkl82-blog​ @gingerbreadandpaper​ @forever-rogue​ @mrpascals​ @bestintheparsec​ @hiscyarika​ @murdermewithbooks​ @aerynwrites​ 

ASWSIE Taglist: @assaultsofthought​ @agingerindenial​ @roxypeanut​ @alisonisunderground​ @gooddaykate-reads​ @renececilia @ahopelessromanticwritersworld​ @mrschiltoncat​ @clydesducktape​ @misslolasworld​ @lilzebub​ @kid-from-new-zealand​ @rpcvliz​ @none-of-your-bullshit​ @shakespeareanwannabe​ @ineedsome-getmesome @stitchers-in-stitches​ @lueurnotes​ @cinewhore​ @buckstaposition​ @the-feckless-wonder​  @windfallss​ @belfry-bat​ @april-14-blog​ @fandom-addict-aesthetics​ @alexmarie29​ @frietiemeloen​ @imaginecrushes​ @stars-trash-18​ @whovianwar​ @itsjustmylifeconfessions​ @mlb4evah @mcrmarvelloki​ @theamuz​ @persephoneiswatching​ @sweet-creature98​ @drinkingwhileblogging​ @310ra​ @qhbr2013​ 

Pedro Characters Taglist: @ilikechocolatemilkh​ @remmysbounty​ 

Let me know if you would like to be included in any of my taglists!

[robert-de-niro-only-fans]

Just Friends

The Deer Hunter!Robert De Niro x Reader

I’m so sorry this took so long. Hope you like pining!

TW: age gap, mention of illness, idk high word count?

Word Count: 8.8k

"Why don't you let (Y/N) come with me? It would be a great opportunity for her to see what's it's like to film in some open locations instead of the sets here in New York. Plus she'll get to meet a great cast of actors, you know how hard we had to push to get John Cazale in the movie. She could learn so much from him." "I don't know, Robert. All the arrangements have been made for the crew's travel and lodging; I wouldn't want to make production any more difficult just so my daughter can watch you guys make a movie." "Ah, it shouldn't be a big deal. It's not too hard to buy an extra plane ticket, and she can just crash with me. Plus we could probably use the extra hands on set at some point." You can't help but feel completely giddy as you overhear Robert urging your father to let you go with him as he films his next movie. You're the daughter of a New York-based movie producer, who had gotten somewhat popular and had enough connections to know some really great actors and actresses. Your dad met Robert De Niro when he was acting in Brian De Palma's early films, and they had been planning on working together for a long time. However, Robert and your dad both stayed busy, and now Robert is a pretty big star since Taxi Driver released just last year. You got to know Robert when you were just a teenager. He would come over to your home for small get-togethers your dad liked to throw. You always liked being around him, so it was lucky for you that your dad and him became good friends. Robert is good about visiting when he has the chance to, but his visits have been less frequent lately as his career is really taking off. And that's what he was doing here today: a quick visit with you and your dad before he has to run off and make another film. The conversation turned, however, when you started discussing how you were becoming interested in working on films, particularly acting. Although most actors started younger than you, and being in your early twenties is already considered old for an actress, you decided it wasn't too late to start. Robert had a soft spot for learning and teaching acting, although his teaching came as little tidbits of advice. That's why you are shocked to hear Robert ask about you going with him for filming, while you're in the kitchen fixing everyone drinks. You walk in, carrying three glasses on a small tray and set them down on the table, then handing each of the men a glass. They both thank you as you take your seat across from them. "Sooo..." you raise your eyebrows and give your dad a hopeful smile. "Yes, (Y/N)?" "Can I go with Robert? I overheard what you two were saying." Your dad sits back and exhales a little loudly. He was trying to be stern but you could tell he was hiding a smile. He could never be an actor; he couldn't hide his real feelings very well. He turns to Robert asking, "Are you sure it's okay if she goes with you?" "Of course. I'll take good care of her," he says sweetly. You always thought he was very sweet. "Okay, sweetheart, you can go, not that I could stop you anyway, but I appreciate that you ask," your father says as a smile spreads across his face. "Dad!! Thank you so much!" He was right; you were an adult, but you had always lived with him, so you felt you needed to ask before going across the country. You jump up and give your dad a big hug. "You better start packing," Robert says with a chuckle, "we leave for Ohio tomorrow." "What kind of clothes should I bring?" you ask Robert. "What you would normally wear. Bring a few nice outfits for dinners. And we'll stop back in New York before going to Washington, because it'll be pretty cold and we'll all need warmer clothes." The smile on his face tells you he's excited about you going with him. You ask sit and talk a little longer, with Robert telling you and your dad about the general schedule about how you'll spend a several weeks in Ohio where most of the film takes place, a few days here and there in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, take a break for a few weeks, then go to Washington State for all of the hunting scenes. After that, a smaller portion of the cast and crew will go to Thailand to film the war scenes. This is also when you find out that the beard he is sporting is for the movie and not just some new fashion choice. You quite like the beard as well as his haircut, it suits him unexpectedly well. As it starts getting late, you make the move to go up to your room to pack. So you say goodnight to Robert and your dad, giving them both big hugs as a thank you for letting you go for filming, and you head upstairs to squeeze all of your clothes and toiletries into a suitcase. Downstairs, Robert stays to talk with your dad a little while longer before heading home. "Now, Robert, you said (Y/N) would be staying with you, right?" "Yes. Is that okay?" "Well..." your dad starts but he certainly doesn't want to offend Robert, "you won't, umm, do anything... with her, will you?" "Hmm? Oh. Oh! Um, no, I won't do anything like that with her. I hadn't even thought about it. I just uuhh- I just thought it would be better if she stayed with me instead sticking her in a random hotel room away from the rest of us... Most of the hotel rooms have two beds anyways." Robert tries desperately to get rid of the blush that came to his cheeks as he stumbles through what he's saying. He had never thought of you that way before, and it caught him off guard and kind of gave him butterflies in his stomach. "Yeah, you're probably right about her staying with you. She's probably safer with you than taking her chances somewhere else," your dad says with look of relief. "Yeah, well, I'm sorry I brought up the idea so last minute, but she'll be okay with me." "No, it's okay. It's a good opportunity for her. I think you guys will have a great time! Now, how do you think Michael is gonna film this thing?" Your dad and Robert discuss the production and direction of the movie for a short while before Robert really has to leave to go home and sleep. When you hear that he's about to leave, you quickly make your way down the stairs to tell him goodnight and thank him again for taking you with him. He pulls you into a gentle hug, placing one of his hands on the back of your head. "You're very welcome, (Y/N). Now, I'll be here at 7 in the morning to pick you up; I wanna take you to breakfast before we head to the airport. That'll also give us some time for someone to get on the phone and get you a plane ticket!" You had no doubt Robert would be able to get you on the plane. And with that, he left, and you went upstairs to pack the last few things you would need before trying to get some sleep, although that didn't come so easy due to the excitement you're feeling. • • • The next day goes just the way Robert said it would: he picks you up right at 7, loads your bags in the car, and takes you to breakfast at his favorite place. It's an upscale place but in a subdued way. You enjoy each other's company over biscuits, eggs, pancakes, coffee, bacon, whatever your heart desires as Robert put it. On the way to the airport, he admits that he got your plane ticket sorted out before he arrived for breakfast, and there was a seat in first class with the rest of the cast. Right next to him. But it's really no issue. He swears he didn't have to buy someone out of their seat. After checking your bags and boarding the plane, Robert introduces everyone to you: Christopher Walken, Meryl Streep, her husband John Cazale, George Dzundza, and John Savage, who everyone opted to call Savage. Meryl and John immediately took a liking to you, which you were honored. The flight was pretty packed, so the cast was all split up across first class, so everyone agreed that you should have dinner tonight to celebrate the beginning of filming. During takeoff you feel Robert put his hand on top of yours, and you quickly turn your head to face him. "You comfortable?" He asks softly. "Oh... Yeah, are you?" "Yep." You look down at his hand on yours. He strokes his thumb over your hand for a moment before pulling it away and looking out the window. You'd be lying if you said that didn't make you feel something. • • • The rest of your flight is uneventful, aside from a few people asking for autographs from the cast as you're leaving the airport. Outside, you are all met with a giant black van, and the director of the movie, Michael Cimino hops out to greet everyone and help put bags in the undercarriage. Everyone climbs inside the van, you sticking close to Robert, simply because you don't know anyone else yet. It's very comfortable and spacious inside, certainly the nicest van you'd ever seen. You and Robert end up all the way in the back, with everyone else doubling up on the seats in front of you. You've got a little bit of a drive to your hotel. Only a few minutes into your trip, everyone is chatting away, and you're finally getting to meet everyone properly, although you're getting to know Meryl and John the best because they're on the seat right in front of you. You instantly notice that John has a fantastic sense of humor; it's no wonder Meryl is so in love with him. Robert has his arm around your shoulders, but you can't tell if it's because he just wants to stretch out across the seat or if it's something else. Either way, he's only there like that for a few moments before he goes to the front of the van to talk to the director. "Guess I got stranded back here," you say with a chuckle to Meryl and John. "Oh, yeah, he's been so involved with Michael in getting this film made," Meryl throws over her shoulder to you. She turns on her seat to face you a little better, "Can I ask you a rather personal question?" "Oh, um, sure." You were certainly nervous to hear what she had to say. "Are you and Robert dating one another?" A breath of relief leaves you in the form of a small laugh, "Oh God, no! He's a friend of my dad's, so we've known each other a long time. He wanted to bring me along so I could learn more about filmmaking." "Oh, that's sweet of him. I apologize for assuming. I guess it's just, uh--oh nevermind," she gives a small smile and looks down at her lap. "No, it's okay! What is it?" "You two are just close, which I suppose that makes sense if you've been friends for so long! I just misinterpreted your relationship." A big smile stretches across her face as John chimes in. "Well if she didn't ask, I was going to, so it's probably good we cleared the air now, right?" "Right!" you respond. "Besides, I'm sure the other guys will all badger him about you, whether it's about him being a cradle robber or them trying to get with you." The three of you laugh, knowing that what John said is probably going to be true. "What are y'all laughing about back there?" Savage pipes up, breaking his attention away from the conversation going on between him, Chris, and George. "My receding hairline." John deadpans to the group in front of them. There's a long pause before everyone busts out in laughter, which then catches the attention of Michael and Robert at the front of the van. They both turn around to see what's going on, and Robert gives you a smile, scrunching his nose cutely. They decide not to get involved, and go back to their conversation. The rest of you talk in a big group the rest of the way to the hotel. • • • At the hotel, production rented out a whole floor for all of the cast and crew to stay on, with the cast kind of grouped near each other on one end. As for this first hotel you'll be at, and it is the main hotel you'll stay at while in Ohio, there are two beds in each room. A lot of the film crew picked partners and doubled up, but of course the director, executive producers, and main cast get their own rooms, with the exception of Meryl and John, and now Robert because he offered to have you with him. When you get in the hotel room, you drop your bags at the door and run to one of the beds, flopping on it and sinking into the comfort. Robert chuckles at you as you grab a pillow to cuddle up with. He drops your bags at the foot of the bed before asking, "I'm assuming you want this bed?" You look up at him lazily, "I don't really care. Do you have a preference?" "Not really; I'll take the other bed," he laughs at you again as he drops his bags near the other bed. "What are you laughing at?" You squint your eyes, questioning him playfully, still hugging your pillow. "You. And your pillow." "Mmmm... I think you're just jealous." "Jealous?! My bed has pillows too. See?" He picks up a pillow and hugs it just like you. "No no no. You're jealous of the pillow. You wish I was squeezing you like this!" "Oh you think so, huh?" He throws his pillow at you. You block it with your arms and it hits the ground. "I'm keeping that," you say sassily. "Fine with me," he says, too calmly. That's quickly broken when he charges towards you, ripping the pillow out of your arms as you burst into laughter. He picks you up around your waist, spins you around a few times and slams you both down on his bed, his arms still firmly around you. "Now I don't have to be jealous," he jokes. You wrap your arms around his head and neck, hugging him into your chest, just like you had done with the pillow. "No, you don't have to be jealous anymore." He gives you one final squeeze and then stands up. "We have a little while before we have to get ready for dinner. Any idea what you wanna do?" You groan a little, "Sleep." You smile up at him. "Well then you better get in your bed instead of hogging mine." "Excuse me! You put me here, so you'll have to move me back!" "Needy," he grumbles jokingly, picking you up and tossing you down on your bed. "You ever heard of letting someone down easy, Robert? Cuz you keep throwing me." He chuckles lowly, moving towards his luggage, "Go to sleep." You grab the extra pillow from the floor and get comfy. One pillow under your head, cuddled up to a second one, a third under one of your legs, and the duvet pulled up to your head. Pure bliss. "You look like a little princess with all those pillows," Robert's voice echoes across the hotel room. "Good. Then let me get me beauty sleep." While he's unpacking some of his clothes and stuff, he finds himself thinking about how you really don't need sleep to look any more beautiful than you already are. • • • That night at dinner, it didn't take long for John's predictions to come true. Just a few minutes after ordering food, Chris caught everyone's attention when he asked, "Bobby, you and this gorgeous young lady... What's going on with you two?" "Whaddaya mean, what's going on with us?" Robert repeats with a laugh. "Well, she's your girlfriend isn't she? I gotta say I'm a little jealous Bobby gets to bring his girlfriend, but I don't get to bring my lovely wife." "Chris, we're not dating. She's just a friend; I've known her dad for a long time." Savage butts in, practically yelling, "Of course she wouldn't date him! He's old enough to be her dad! Unless you're into that kinda stuff, baby." You turn to John and you both start laughing about how Savage managed, not only to joke about Robert being significantly older than you, but also use it to hit on you. "This again? What's so funny?!" John yells. "You had to be there," you cut back to Savage, trying not to smile, but failing. Robert cuts in, "Ya know, I just wanna say: I'm not old enough to be her dad." It kind of surprised you that he would even bother defending himself; it was clearly just a joke, but everyone laughed nonetheless. "You're only, like, 15 years older than her right?" George jokes. A little bit of a blush creeps up Robert's neck, and he bites his lip, "...yeah." This only makes everyone laugh more. Under the table, you place your hand on top of Robert's and you both give each other a small look while laughing. It's a short moment, broken by Michael walking up to the table. Everyone knew he would be late, but you still invited him anyway. Michael slides in next to Robert and asks, "What's so funny?" "Eh, you don't wanna know," Robert shoots back. You and John are trying very hard not to have another laughing fit. Luckily things are fairly calm while everyone is eating, but it doesn't last long after everyone is done. You catch John whispering in Meryl's ear before he turns to the table and says, "Alright, let Meryl and I slide out, my lady wants to dance." Pretty much everyone stands up to let them out of the booth, and Chris, noticing that Robert is once again deep in conversation with Michael, invites you to dance to "keep those other dogs off of you." George and Savage sneak off to find some nice Ohio locals to dance with. Robert and Michael slide back into the booth, chatting like they do. Meryl and John are being beyond cute dancing with one another and nuzzling noses. Chris is a real gentleman while dancing with you. He holds you close, and you maintain some casual conversation getting to know each other better. George finds sweet girl to try and romance, but Savage is having some trouble, so he simply steals you away from Chris, asking if he could dance with you instead. Chris thanks you for your time and returns to the table joining in the talk with Michael and Robert. Dancing with Savage is a little bit intense, as he lays it on thick hitting on you. At one point, he leans his head down and starts placing kisses on your cheek and even a few on your neck. This is when you catch Robert basically staring a hole in you. He stands up and makes his way over to you and Savage. Robert places a hand on Savage's shoulder, lowly speaking, "You mind if I borrow your dance partner?" "Mm... But we were having fun," Savage whines sarcastically, but gives in and leaves you with Robert. "What, you didn't like him kissing on me? I knew you were the jealous type," you snark at him. "Nooo. I told your dad I would take care of you, and a guy like him is no good for a girl your age." He wraps an arm around you, figuring that he should probably dance with you. "My knight in shining armor!" Another joke. "Oh shut up," he chuckles. • • • The next day, you all wake up bright and early to head to the tailors on location so that everyone can get their makeup done and costumes on. You had to admit Robert looked pretty funny in his flannel, puffy vest, and trucker cap. It was nothing like what he would normally wear. The first few scenes that are gonna be filmed during this first week are the first few scenes of the film, where all of the characters are seen at the steel mill and they prepare for the wedding and being drafted. The dynamic of the cast actually worked pretty well for these scenes. Everyone got along quite well, so it wasn't hard for them to act like they had been friends their whole lives. You noticed that filming goes a bit slower when it's shot on location like this, and it was made even slower by Michael Cimino. Michael was very particular about the way he wanted things, and there were lots of noises to work around as they filmed at an actual steel mill. You also spent more time in the makeup trailor than you had expected to; you found it fascinating how they made the men look like they weren't wearing any makeup at all. You and Meryl also spent a good amount of time together when she wasn't in a scene. She said that it was nice having another girl around on a predominantly male set. Of course, you weren't the only girl, but you were one of few. There isn't really a scene that Robert isn't in, so unfortunately, you don't see him much unless everyone is taking a break, or if you hang out with him while he's in makeup. But you make the most of it by getting to know everyone else. • • •

On nights after filming, the cast hangs out really often, normally in someone's hotel room, usually Meryl and John's. Sometimes you would go to a bar or a restaurant, as drinking and dancing became some of the groups' favorite activities. Hanging out in Meryl and John's hotel room usually includes wine, snacks, playing cards, and Robert's arm casually around your waist whenever you get near him. Savage still shoots his shot with you every once in a while, but if he isn't shut down by you, he will be shut down by Robert. He's just watching out for you like he promised your dad; really, it's flattering how protective he can be. • • • The second week of filming is dedicated to filming the wedding scenes. Everyone looks great in their tuxedos and dresses, and the church you'll be filming in is a beautiful Russian Orthodox Church here in Cleveland. "How do I look?" Robert asks you while he's getting his hair gelled and combed into place. "Very handsome. I really like you in that tuxedo." "Maybe he can borrow it when you two finally get married," Michael says coming into the makeup trailor. You and Robert both look at him a little shocked; Michael's never made jokes about you two before. "Oh, c'mon, I'm not allowed to make jokes too?" You both laugh a little awkwardly trying to cut any tension in the room. "I'm gonna go outside and help with all the extras," you say, swiftly leaving the makeup trailor. Outside, there are like a hundred people who showed up to be extras in the wedding scene, and you're sure Michael will probably use most of them. The people are all dressed up in their finest wedding attire, some of them getting a little makeup done or getting some items from costume to make the scene fit Michael's vision. They were told to bring empty presents as well, so that the table full of wedding presents would look realistic; however, many of them actually brought real presents for the cast and crew to keep. Filming the wedding scene was really chaotic to say the least. It felt like a party that went on for way too long, and most everyone was pretty exhausted by the end of filming with the extras that day. But you had to say, Meryl and Robert really stole the show. Their on-screen chemistry was astounding; you would've thought they were really in love or something! You loved watching the way Robert's character pined for Meryl's; his eyes always said so much. And of course, filming wouldn't have felt complete without John adding in his funny little quirks in various scenes, such as tapping his foot while waiting for the bride to walk down the aisle, and carrying Robert across the room for the group photo. Althought most of the filming with the extras had to be done in one day, the other scenes filmed that week included a couple of the bar scenes of the guys playing pool and drinking, and the scene where Robert streaks through town, which certainly had you blushing. Thank God you were filming at night. • • • Your last two weeks of filming in Ohio are spent filming anything that wasn't a hunting scene or a war scene. Production had to make a point of scheduling all of John's scenes early in the filming process, because it is no secret how sick he is. One night after filming, you all decide it would be fun to go out to one of the bars, as everyone had been pretty busy, and there hadn't been much time to. Everyone wants to go dancing again! You've had a hard time getting Robert to dance with you since your first night in Ohio. He really doesn't like to since he's so shy, even though he's very good at slow dances. That night, you dance with Chris again, and Meryl dances with Savage, while Robert hangs back at the table with John. John really isn't feeling well; it's one of his bad days, but he never lets it ruin the mood. Savage and Meryl makes their way over to you on the dance floor, and Savage asks, "Hey, can I cut in? I'd love to have a dance partner that pretty!" "Uh, sure, man," Chris answers. Savage practically shoves himself between you and Chris, quickly taking Chris by the hand and putting an arm around him before spinning him around. "Beautiful!" Savage yells, dipping Chris back, getting a round of laughs and even some applause from everyone around. You and Meryl take this as a chance to slip over to the bar, to get a break from your heels. You sit with your backs leaning up against the bar so you can keep an eye on all your friends. "Have you had fun filming with us all this time?" Meryl asks kindly, as she always does. "Oh yeah, it's been really great, and I've been learning so much about the filming process, and you're all wonderful actors to look up to!" "That's so sweet of you. The guys here have all done a wonderful job with their parts so far. Especially Robert. He's been in nearly every scene, and he's so involved with Michael and production. I don't know where he gets his energy!" "Yeah, he stays busy. I sleep in the same room as him and sometimes it seems like I don't even see him," you giggle. "Oh, but when he does get to be around you, it certainly seems you have his attention," Meryl points out, "I know you've said you two are just close, but I really think he likes you." "You think he likes me? Why do you think he likes me?" "Well, he's quite watchful of you, making sure you never get into trouble, especially around Savage. He always has an arm around you when we're hanging out at the hotel. And the way he looks at you. He looks at you... Well, he looks at you the way he looks at me when we're filming." You both look over at Robert and John. John smiles at Meryl and gives her a funny little wink. Robert turns to look when he realizes John isn't looking at him anymore, raising his eyebrows when he sees you and Meryl staring back at him. Him and John turn back to their conversation, shaking off whatever trouble you and Meryl are getting into. "You know the tension between you two is almost unbearable, right?" John says in a casual tone, knowing that this question is anything but casual. "I'm sorry, what?" Robert sputters. "You and (Y/N). It's so obvious to everyone that you have feelings for one another. Well, obvious to everyone but you and her, apparently." He gives Robert a side eye and raised eyebrows. "I mean... I care about (Y/N), but I- I don't have feelings for her. Her dad would kill me." "You don't have feelings for her, or you feel like you shouldn't have feelings for her?" There's a long silence between them. Robert looks up at John in a way that lets John know he's right. "Take it from me, Bobby. Life's too short." With that, Robert stands up, and walks over to you and Meryl, still at the bar. "Excuse me," he starts, always a gentleman, "Meryl, would you mind if I borrowed (Y/N) from you?" "Oh! No, go ahead," she says with a small laugh. "(Y/N)," there's a bit of a nervous tone in his voice, "would you like to dance with me? I know I've been avoiding it for weeks now." "I'd love to," you smile at him. He puts his hands on your hips, lifting you off of the tall bar stool and helping you to the ground. On the dancefloor, he pulls you into his chest with an arm around your waist and a hand tangled in the back of your hair. Your hands rest on his hips, and you slowly sway back and forth together, even when the song playing wasn't slow. It wasn't really proper slow dancing, but you weren't going to complain; you both enjoyed the closeness. That night at the hotel, you decide to watch a movie together before going to bed; you didn't have to be up super early for once. So you both hop into your pajamas, and Robert finds something on the TV and pats the spot on the bed next to him. "I have my own bed, you know?" you joke. "I know, but it's no fun watching a movie that far apart. Would you sit on a different couch if we were in a living room?" "I guess you have a point." You climb onto his bed, and he puts his arm around your shoulders, watching the movie which was already started, but it is close enough to the beginning. Part of the way through the movie, Robert's eyes linger down to your hand resting on your lap, although you don't notice this. In fact, you're quite sleepy. You feel his fingers gently grace over the back of your hand, and you react by turning your hand over for him. He softly traces little shapes into the palm of your hand, and he teases at your finger tips like he wants to lace his fingers with yours. You decide to bite the bullet and go for it. The next time his fingertips grace yours, you slide your fingers in between his, holding his hand. You're both way to nervous to look at each other, so you both just go back to watching the movie while he strokes his thumb over yours. • • • The next morning, you wake up surrounded by the Robert's scent, which is always very nice, but no Robert nearby. You quickly realize that you're still in his bed; you must have fallen asleep during the movie last night. You sit up looking around for your roommate, and you find him in your bed, looking up at you as if he was waiting for you to find him. The sun spilling in through the window and across his face accentuated his dimples and the smile lines around his eyes. He, too, looked like a sunbeam as he grinned up at you. "Good morning, sleepy head. You fell asleep during our movie, and I didn't have the heart to move you, so I figured we could just trade beds for the night," he says lightly laughing. It seemed like he was in a very good mood this morning. "Oh, well thank you for giving me your bed all to myself. It probably would've been way too hot if you stayed over here." "Mmm, I knew you thought I was hot," he has a smug look on his face. "No! I meant like body temperature. You're probably like a human heater when you sleep!" you argue with him. "Well, wouldn't you like to know?" he jokes, getting up out of bed to get ready to go to set. "I don't ever wanna know!" you yell as he closes the bathroom door. Just a little while later, as everyone is heading out of the hotel to get in the big black van and go to the filming location, John looks at you and asks, "So what is it that you don't wanna know?" "Huh?" you reply to John. "We heard you yell at Robert 'I don't ever wanna know!' through the walls a little while ago." You had no idea the walls were that thin, and you wonder what else they had heard. Robert butts in, "Oh, that was just (Y/N) trying to deny that she thinks I'm hot and wants to sleep with me," with a devilish look on his face. "ROBERT!" you yell, hitting him on the shoulder. "That is totally taken out of context, and you know it!" Everyone is roaring with laughter, while you blush a deep shade of pink. Robert puts all of the jokes to rest by telling everyone what really happened, but conveniently leaving out the part about you two holding hands for a while last night. • • • The next few days are pretty normal, although bittersweet, as it is the last few days of filming in Ohio. The cast spends a lot of time hanging out in Meryl and John's hotel room, and everyone goes out to the bar to celebrate on the last night on location. You go back to New York with Robert and most of the cast the day after filming wraps in Ohio. You would have a break for a few weeks before flying out to Washington for filming the hunting scenes. Everyone says their goodbyes at the airport, with John throwing in one final joke, "Invite us to the wedding if you two decide to elope before Washington!" You and Robert were used to it at that point; it was an every day thing that someone made a joke about you two getting together, but it really didn't bother either of you too much. Hell, even you made jokes about yourselves sometimes. Of course, Robert makes sure to take you home himself, or have his driver take you both to your house. You were so excited to see your dad again! You had called him several times while you were gone, but that doesn't mean you didn't miss him. You and your dad share a long embrace as he invites Robert in for a drink before he goes home. Robert kindly accepts coming in to relax for a while. Immediately, your dad notices how much closer you and Robert are, but he figures that spending a month together will probably do that to any two people. He's just glad you've made some important connections in the film industry. The two men listened intently as you spoke cheerfully of all of your experiences and the things you learned during the first leg of filming, Robert adding in some bits here or there. You both decided to leave out the jokes everyone made about you two getting together, assuming it would be an awkward conversation to have. Robert doesn't stay as long as he normally would've, because he has to be up early in the morning to go meet with other producers and directors. He stays so busy; you know you won't see him again until it's time to film. When he goes to leave, Robert pulls you up into a big hug telling you how fun it's been having you around, and that he can't wait to take you to Washington. • • • A couple of weeks go by, and everything is as it was at home with your dad. Except now you miss Robert a lot of the time, because you had been so close. You missed all of the cast; you had all become such good friends. Either way, you tried to keep busy by going to work with your dad a lot and looking into new roles to audition for, although you found yourself more interested in other aspects of film production since going to Ohio. One night, your dad calls you downstairs, because there's a call for you on the home phone. Your dad tells you that it's Robert, and he's asking to talk to you. You weren't expecting to hear from him at all, so you can't help but worry that something is wrong, especially with John being sick. "Hello?" you say into the phone. "Hey, there," Robert's tone is unreadable. "You rang?" "Yeah, I did. Um... I know this is last minute, but I wanted to know if you would come over for dinner tomorrow? My schedule opened up tomorrow night, and I gotta admit I miss you more than I thought I would." "Oh..." you silently thank God your dad had walked off, "just you and me?" "Yeah, I was thinking I could order room service for dinner, and we could watch a movie like we did at the hotel. Plus I think everyone else is probably busy, unless you want me to invite your other boyfriend," he giggles. He was referring to Savage and how he relentlessly tried to hit on you. "Oh, no. I don't think I could deal with both of you," you reply with a laugh. "That's what I thought. So, I'll see you tomorrow at seven?" "Yep. See you then!" The next night arrives quickly, and now the dilemma you're facing is that you have no idea what to where. Is this casual? Does he want you to dress up? You aren't sure, and it's too late to call him; he's probably almost here. You decide to go casual, but not sweatpants casual. Why would Robert want you to dress up to go to his apartment? Seems like Robert went for the same kind of attire, you see when he shows up. You throw a quick goodbye and a kiss on the cheek to your dad before Robert leads you out to the car with a hand on the small of your back. It's not too long of a car ride to his place, because you both live in the city; however, somewhere in the middle of the trip, Robert abruptly asks his driver to stop at a bakery up ahead. You give the man next to you a confused look, and he smiles saying, "Look, I have to start doing some pretty intense training for another movie, so this might be one of the last times I get to eat cake for a while! I was thinking we could pick something up to have after dinner." There's a brief pause between you two, then Robert quickly adds on, "You can pick out whatever you want! I'll buy it!" You can't help but laugh at his excitement, and you take his hand as he basically rips you out of the car and into the bakery. The smell in the air was incredible; it makes you want to buy everything in the shop. So you and Robert go crazy picking out anything and everything that looks good, all the while giggling like school girls with one another! You arrive at Robert's apartment with bags of desserts in tow, and almost immediately, you're placing an order with room service for dinner. Stopping by the bakery had made you both very hungry. The desserts were left in the kitchen as the two of you make your way to the couch, in an effort to avoid eating all the sweets that smelled so heavenly. Robert quickly found something on the TV, although he didn't turn it up very loud; you both knew you'd be talking anyway. He leans back into the couch, putting an arm comfortably around you. At this point, it wasn't a big deal for you two to be hanging all over one another. "I didn't think I would miss you this much," Robert blurts out, "uhh, I mean, we just spent so much time together, more than I would normally spend with anyone from set." "Yeah? You miss spending the night with me?" you joke. Robert rolls his eyes. You continue, "Miss waking up to my beautiful face every day? Or waiting for me to get out the shower?" "Oh, stop! You know it wasn't like that," Robert said with a grin, but his face quickly drops into a serious look. He reaches up and gently pushes your hair behind your ear. His eyes looked over your whole face, appreciating all of your features, before locking eyes with you. He tangles his fingers in your hair at the nape of your neck and pulls you close, placing his forehead against yours. You weren't completely sure what he was doing, but you weren't mad about it. Almost instinctively, you close your eyes and begin nuzzling your nose against his. At first just bumping the end of your nose against his, and then you feel his nose next to yours as he moves closer to you. Everything feels like it's happening in slow motion. His hand still firmly grasping your hair, a tiny giggle leaves your lips for whatever reason. You feel the hair from his beard tickle your chin, and the butterflies in your stomach go crazy as you realize he's about to kiss you. His bottom lip barely graces yours, and the doorbell rings. Room service with the dinner you ordered. Your eyes fly open, seeing Robert pull back from you and take a deep breath, washing the intense expression off of his face. "I'm sorry," he says standing up and straightening out his shirt, "I don't know what I was thinking." Before you could say anything, he was opening the door, and dinner was brought in by one of the apartment staff. You took a moment to get it together and put whatever just happened behind you. You assume Robert decided to do the same, because the rest of the evening goes by relatively normal. You both enjoy dinner and of course all the desserts you picked up earlier! Not without lots of laughs anyway, as Robert keep poking fun at you for how you lit up like a child at the bakery. "Oh, like you didn't pick out just as many, if not MORE things than me!" You shout at him, which earns you a laugh from the man next to you. "In fact, it was YOUR idea to go in, Mr. I-have-to-get-in-shape-for-a-new-movie!" He cuts his eyes at you as if to say something, but instead shoves a pastry in your mouth, smearing icing across your lips and chin. You both double over in a fit of laughter, reaching for napkins to clean your face with. Thank goodness that was the highlight of the evening, so you had something other than "oh yeah, Robert almost kissed me" to tell your dad when you got home. • • •

As you would've guessed, you didn't see Robert again until you were headed to Washington. You sit with him on the plane again, but this time, a lot of the cast had different flights, traveling in from other parts of the world. The flight takes most of your day, as it's definitely the evening by the time you are picked up at the airport. Up in the mountains, it is freezing, first of all. Luckily you're from New York, and Washington isn't much further North, so you know how to handle the cold. Second, they have the whole cast and crew staying in cabins that are scattered along the mountain side. It is already pretty dark, but from what you could see, it's beautiful up on the mountain range. You don't have much to do that night, and all of the cast is arriving at different times, and production setup is running behind (the norm with Michael Cimino), so the cast all agrees to have lunch together the next day before shooting kicks off this week. Robert takes you into the visitor's center that presides over the cabins to pick up keys, and the staff even gives you some warm bowls of soup to take up to the cabin with you. Up in the cabin, you quickly cut the heater on, shivering while you wait on the room to warm up a bit. Robert sets down his bags and the soup, and walks up behind you, putting his hands on your arms and rubbing them vigorously. It warms you up pretty well, especially when he puts his warm hands on your neck. "Mm, thank you," you let out in a moan. "It's no problem, honey," Robert says lowly, almost in a whisper. "You okay?" you ask him. "Mhmm... Just sleepy and thinking about that soup," he says wrapping his arms around you and nuzzling into your neck, "Feel any warmer?" "Well, I stopped shaking," you sink back into him, and place your cold hands on his warm ones. He moves to put your hands under his, stroking the back of your hands with his thumbs. You stay like that for a few minutes before you break the silence, "You wanna eat that soup? Seemed like you were hungry." "Hmm, yeah." He pulls away from you, rubbing your arms a little like he did before, and walks into the little kitchen to get his soup. The room is a few degrees warmer, but this cabin must have horrible insulation or something, because it's still freezing even with the heater on. By the time you head over to the kitchen, Robert is bringing your soup over to the table. You both quickly dig in; Robert because he was hungry, and you because you're so cold. The soup warmed you up pretty well. The rest of the evening, there wasn't too much to do. Robert watched some TV, you went through your clothes making sure you had enough warm stuff before changing into pajamas and climbing into bed. You figured you should go ahead and try to warm your bed up sooner rather than later. A while later, you're still sitting in bed shivering a bit; Robert stands up and chuckles at you before heading out of the room to change clothes. He comes back in sweatpants and a t-shirt and climbs into his bed. "How are you wearing that to bed?" you ask him bewildered. "Um, just like this," he pulls the blankets up over his shoulders. "It's literally freezing in here. You're not cold?" "Nope, are you?" he has that devilish look on his face, knowing the answer to that question. You shoot him a deadpan look and turn over, ignoring him and trying to get warm. "Goodnight, then," Robert laughs. "Goodnight." You both lie there in silence for a while. Robert watches you tossing and turning, bunching the covers up on top of yourself, and still shivering the whole time. "(Y/N)." "What?" You turn to look at him under your huge pile of blankets. "Come here." "What do you mean, come here?" "Come get in bed with me," he says sternly. "Ooooh, no! You're not gonna get to joke about me sleeping with you all week." "(Y/N), you're freezing, and you're not gonna get any sleep like that. Just... Let me keep you warm." The look on his face was one of concern and sincerity. "You won't make fun of me?" you ask sheepishly. "I won't make fun of you." There was a small pause. "You promise?" "Oh my gosh, yes! I promise," he says with a big smile and an eye roll, "Will you get your ass over here already?" You stand up, and he holds the blankets up for you. You sit down and scoot in close to him. Robert drops the blankets on you, before grabbing you and pulling you into his chest. You make a move to protest, until you realize how warm he is. You resign to stay cuddled up to him and tangle your legs with his. You start to drift off to sleep feeling his breath gently on your forehead and his fingers tracing shapes in your back. "I knew it. You are like a human heater," you joke quietly. Without opening his eyes, Robert groans then whispers, "I knew you thought I was hot." • • • The next morning, you both wake up to the sound of the alarm clock. Robert quickly rolls you onto your back and reaches across you to turn off the alarm. You look up at him as he lingers above you for a moment. He gives you a sweet smile before leaning in and pressing his lips to yours. It catches you completely off guard, and it's over before you even realize what he has done. He looks into your eyes, and you place a hand on his cheek. It was like a dam broke. You both smash your lips into one another's kissing passionately, hands exploring each other. Robert catches your hand in his, lacing his fingers with yours and pushing your hand up above your head on the pillow. His other hand finds your hair as he continues to move his lips against yours. Your free hand roams his back, while your feet gently rub against his legs underneath the sheets. He pulls away from you slightly, breaking your kiss, both of you breathing heavily. He flashes a toothy smile at you, knowing he looks good, and breathes out, "Good morning!" You giggle and tell him, "Good morning," too. "Hmmm," Robert hums, nuzzling into the crook of your neck leaving little kisses there, "it *is* a good morning..." "I guess everyone was right about us, huh?" you point out. "Oh, who cares what they think?" "I think you do, cradle robber." You both try to look at each other seriously, but that always ends in laughter. Luckily it was a slow morning so you could spend some time together, kissing and figuring out whether or not you wanted to tell everyone at lunch. Just before time to leave, Michael came by to check on both of you and tell you that the van was ready. "Alright, we'll be out in a few minutes," Robert told Michael. "See you at the van!" Michael called out as he closed the door to your cabin. Robert turned to you and snuck his hands up the sides of your jacket, just enough for his fingertips to make contact with your skin. You placed one hand on the back of his neck and the other in his hair, while he leaned into you for one last little makeout session before heading out. You felt your back hit the wall lightly, as the door bursts open and John yells, "What's up, lovebirds--OH!" You and Robert turn to see Meryl and John at the front of your cabin giggling, the rest of the group rushing up to see why John shouted so loudly. You quickly push Robert off of you and blush a deep shade of red. Everyone starts laughing, and John looks at the two of you with a huge grin on his face, and says, "Oooh, you two are never gonna hear the end of this."

[ghostnebula]

Okay please do a part 3 of the waterpolo au where Richie does walk Eddie to his dorm after practice one time OR maybe they have a swim meet out of town and have to stay the night and they end up rooming together and Eddie maybe did something to piss Richie off and he ends up getting the dick appointment of HIS LIFE (featuring lots of lovely aftercare, that part made me so happy when you included that)

God omg omg okay (I love this sm)

[part 1]  [part 2]

Okay so here’s how this goes: The swim team and the water polo team both have events out of town on the same weekend, in the same place. As such, they’re going to travel together, and both coaches are like “Yeah they practice in the same room all the time and a lot of members of both teams seem to be friends and isn’t it great that our teams get along so well? Isn’t that wonderful?” (Eddie would beg to differ but he also doesn’t want to tell his coach he let that tall hot dickweed from the water polo team fuck him even though he definitely doesn’t get along with him and overall the current relations aren’t so great, because he has, like, some dignity, so he just keeps his mouth shut). 

So these two coaches, so proud of their teams for getting along so well, bring them all together during practice one day and give them the great news! They’ll be taking the bus to whatever town together, and staying in the same hotel, right beside the facility where their events will be held on Saturday and Sunday. Their rooms will be randomly assigned -- two to a room, names drawn from a hat, unless anyone has any specific requests. 

And Eddie does. Eddie sure as hell does have a specific request not to be stuck in a room with Richard Fucking Tozier, because he’s not about to subject himself to an entire weekend of whatever the fuck is going on between the two of them, especially not when he’s all but naked during swim meets and anyone with two working eyes will see whatever marks Richie decides to leave on him. 

Richie beats him to it, though, and he’s already chatting with their coaches the second the meeting ends. Eddie storms up to give Richie a piece of his mind, and to tell the coaches to disregard everything that comes out of this fibbing conniving asshole’s mouth, but Richie is... being so nice? And charming? And he drops an arm across Eddie’s shoulders to pull him into a little side hug, smiling so sincerely at the coaches as he explains how Eddie’s just so sweet to him, and he’d love to be friends, and what a perfect opportunity it would be for them to spend a whole weekend rooming together, so they can get to know each other better. Eddie’s trapped because his only option right now is to make himself the asshole and tell Richie to fuck right off in front of both their coaches, while he’s putting on this disturbingly convincing act of being, like... genuinely nice. He just watches with his jaw on the floor as Richie shakes both their hands and thanks them for all the incredible opportunities, and tells them just how grateful he is, and how he’s made some of the best friends in his life while part of the water polo team.

And then the conversation is over and there’s something almost menacing in Richie’s eyes as he plants a wet kiss to his cheek and tells him he’s looking forward to a whole weekend to play with him, and Eddie’s knees nearly give out. He is so beyond screwed at this point.

They get to their hotel late on Friday night, and Eddie can’t even bring himself to care about the room arrangements, because he’s too busy thinking about sleep, and how nice it will be to just put his head on a pillow. He purposely sat as far from Richie as possible on the bus, and Richie didn’t push his luck -- just stayed where he was, probably because he knew Eddie was already going to have to put up with enough of his shit over the course of the weekend. Still, Eddie caught him staring a few times. 

He should’ve known sleep was not in the plans for the night.

He brushes his teeth, combs his hair, and comes out of the bathroom to get his pyjamas out of his bag. Richie’s got all his crap tossed in a corner, clothes spilling out of his unzipped duffel bag, a Walkman on the bed, his dirty socks on the floor. In complete contrast to Eddie, who stacked his belongings neatly against the wall beside his bed and made sure everything was in it’s place after he got his toiletry bag out. He’s already rolling his eyes before the bathroom door has swung shut behind him, and it doesn’t occur to him that in all that mess, there’s a vital element missing: Richie. 

He sweeps up behind him and wraps an arm around his waist, pressing a kiss to the side of his throat, and Eddie yelps in surprise so Richie presses a hand over his mouth. “Quiet, now, we’ve got neighbours, you know.”

“Fuck off,” says Eddie, muffled, and he tries to mean it but he, perhaps, has not stopped thinking about the fucking fantastic lay that Richie was, and he hasn’t hooked up with anyone else since, which is kind of a new record for him. Frankly, he’s a little pissed and a little scared Richie may have ruined him for anyone else, and he is not willing to admit that, not at fucking all, so he settles for some healthy insults in the hopes Richie will make the decision to end this before it begins, so that Eddie doesn’t have to.

Except Richie just licks up the side of his throat, hot and wet, and croons, “Oh, baby, you can be meaner than that. Get my dick hard, c’mon.”

“Eat shit, fuckface,” Eddie snaps, trying to pry Richie’s hand off of his face, and he swears Richie actually shudders behind him before latching onto the skin under his jaw and starting to suck a hickey there. He stomps on Richie’s foot so hard he finally lets go, looking more than a little miffed. “Don’t you fucking dare leave marks on me, I swear to god. I have an event first thing in the morning and you are not--”

Richie kisses him, because Richie is an asshole and he just does whatever the fuck he wants, apparently, but when Eddie shoves him off he says, “Okay, deal,” with a shit-eating grin, and Eddie isn’t sure if he wants to be pissed Richie still thinks Eddie wants to fuck him at all tonight (doesn’t he?) or relieved he’s actually getting his way.

(The cognitive dissonance is real with this one)

He lets Richie fuck him on his bed, and he’s so big his legs shake and his eyes water, and Richie puts him right back into that distant and floaty headspace again. He knows he shouldn’t let Richie come in him, because it was so hard to get it all out last time, but he just doesn’t have it in him to tell him not to, and he especially doesn’t want to tell him to use a condom, so when Richie asks if he can come inside, and Eddie’s pretty sure his body and his mind have diverged into separate entities, he nods and whines a little, “Please?”

But the next morning? He’s right back to fuck that guy and fuck his seductive talents and definitely fuck his huge dick and especially fuck his ability to make the best possible use of the gifts God gave him. Something like that. Seriously, how dare he? How dare he take advantage of Eddie like that? How dare he be just hot enough and just charismatic enough and just a good enough lay that Eddie isn’t even capable of resisting it at this point. Is he a fucking incubus? This is bullshit.

And he’s sore. Which is really what’s pissing him off so much. He’s so sore and it felt so fucking good last night but now, while he’s trying to win a damn race, it doesn’t feel nearly as good (or so he tries to tell himself).

So when he hauls himself out of the water to find Richie and a couple other members of the water polo team hanging out in the front row of the stands, he’s still thinking fuck you fuck you fuck you. He towels off, gets his congratulatory pats on the back or whatever the fuck from his teammates, and he’s glaring at Richie the whole time. Richie’s grinning right back. He’s got an empty seat save beside him, one foot kicked up on it casually, and Eddie knows what he thinks that’s for, but like hell he’s going to give him the satisfaction. 

In fact, he outright refuses to give him the satisfaction. He knows there’s a good hour until the water polo game starts for Richie’s team, which means several hours until his own second and final event for the weekend, and he thinks some good old-fashioned revenge is in store.

He bypasses Richie completely to approach Bill, another member of the water polo team who Eddie’s hooked up with a couple times in the past. It was alright -- he’s had worse, but he’s definitely (and quite recently) had better. Way fucking better. Still, Bill’s always been a sweetheart to him, and Richie’s a run-of-the-mill d-bag, so there’s no competition there (yes, actually, there is).

“Hi, Bill,” he says sweetly, leaning over the railing, giving his best smile. “I was wondering if you wanted to take advantage of your free time before your game starts?”

Bill agrees easily enough, so Eddie takes him by the hand to lead him away, find somewhere they can have some privacy, and he sneaks a look at Richie to find him appropriately livid, which just leaves Eddie feeling smug. Because fuck him, right? He doesn’t deserve Eddie. He’s barely even nice to Eddie.

Well, except that... last night, after he was done fucking the soul out of him, he kind of was nice. Like before. Holding him until he felt like himself again and telling him how good he did, helping him clean up and letting him share the unsoiled bed with him.

Still, though, he can’t just fucking... barge into Eddie’s life and take whatever he wants, whenever he wants, and expect Eddie to just bend to his will. 

So he gets a condom and lube out of his bag on their way through the locker room and he lets Bill fuck him in some empty room, and it’s not entirely unsatisfying but he also can’t stop thinking about Richie, and how fucking good he felt last night, and how he’s still sore from it, and how sweet revenge tastes -- how pissed Richie is probably going to be. And Eddie can’t wait to rub it in his face, that Richie doesn’t get to keep him to himself, and that Eddie isn’t going to play along with his stupid little games, no matter how much he likes them.

He doesn’t stick around to watch the water polo games, just goes back to his and Richie’s shared room to shower and freshen up before his next event, and when he gets back to the pool Richie is back in the stands, still looking pissed as all hell, and Eddie’s still smug as fuck about it.

He finishes up his swim meet, purposefully avoids eye contact with Richie the whole time, just to get his point across (not because he’s worried he’ll start something if he looks at him too long), and hauls ass back to his room as soon as he’s dressed, ready to spend the afternoon hiding from him. But Richie’s not a fucking idiot, apparently, because he’s throwing the door open not five minutes later, expression deadly calm, and he waltzes straight over to Eddie’s bed (now with fresh sheets, thanks to the cleaning service). “You’re cute,” Richie says, which is not what Eddie was expecting, and he makes an inquisitive noise and tilts his head, setting aside the assignment he was working on for one of his classes. “Yeah, real fuckin’ cute,” Richie continues, now lifting one knee onto the bed and crowding into his space, “thinking you can fuck around like that without consequences.”

“Um,” says Eddie, and then he’s being slammed down onto the mattress with a hand around his throat.

“You were trying to piss me off, right? You wanted it rough, or something? I though I was already giving it to you plenty rough, kitten, but all you had to do was ask.” The grip on Eddie’s throat tightens and he goes dizzy for a second, both hands curling over Richie’s wrist and squeezing. He loosens up a little, just enough to let Eddie breathe. 

“I want you... to leave me alone,” he lies, rasping, not making any further move to get Richie off of him. “I’m not your... fucking... plaything.”

Richie laughs viciously at that, free hand already creeping under Eddie’s shirt, and it tears a rough gasp out of him when he pinches hard at his nipple. “No, you don’t. Nice try, though.”

Eddie doesn’t argue the point, because he’s dug himself in this deep, anyway. So he stays when Richie tells him to stay, flat on his back on the hotel bed while Richie rummages through his bags, and he takes his shirt off when he tells him to. And he doesn’t complain when Richie wraps a belt around his wrists to tie them together over his bare chest. In fact, he fights down the colour rising in his cheeks, because no one’s ever done that before and he really, really likes it, enough that it’s, uh, physically pretty obvious. Richie’s smirking because he already knows the answer when he asks, “Is that okay? Is it too much?”

“No,” Eddie relents. “It’s fine.”

“Seems more than fine to--”

Eddie kicks him in the thigh to shut him up and earns himself a slap across the face for it, and he doesn’t think it should turn him on so much when Richie grabs at his throat again and growls, “You’re already in enough fucking trouble, you ungrateful bitch.”

“What-fucking-ever.” Eddie rolls his eyes exaggeratedly, dick stirring in his pants at the calm anger clear in Richie’s eyes, and Richie bites him. Harder than he ever did the first time they fucked, just below his collarbone, and Eddie can’t scream because he isn’t getting enough air for that, but he still makes a high noise somewhere in the back of his throat even as Richie presses harder at his windpipe. He doesn’t have to see to know he’s bleeding.

He tries to get his anger across with a glare, but Richie isn’t paying attention, he’s too busy uncapping the lube and pouring some on his fingers, and before Eddie can do anything to prepare himself he’s shoving two fingers in him at once. Eddie half-screams again, kicking out against him, and Richie finally lets go of his throat so he can breathe properly again. “Fuck you, that hurts,” he croaks, whacking Richie’s shoulder with his bound hands. 

“Really? I’d expect you to be pretty fucking loose, considering.” As if to emphasize his point, he forces a third finger in beside the first two, and the stretch is too much, too fast; it has Eddie tearing up. “Or is Billy’s cock really that small? Must not be very satisfying.”

“Richie, slow down, take it easy, please,” Eddie whimpers, but still, he can’t bring himself to outright ask him to stop, and he hates that. 

“Richie, slow down,” Richie mocks in a high voice. “Don’t piss me off and maybe it wouldn’t be a fucking problem.”

He pulls his fingers out of him too fast, and it fucking hurts, but he’s already lining his cock up to push in and Eddie knows there’s no point asking him to go easy, even though he’s still hurting from last night, and his little rendezvous with Bill only made things worse. He rocks right into him, sinking too deep all at once, and the dam bursts, tears spilling down Eddie’s cheeks. Richie bites him again, just as hard, this time right at the junction of his neck and shoulder, and Eddie fucking wails, back arching, legs tensing on either side of Richie’s hips. 

“Are you gonna let Bill fuck you again?” Richie demands as he sets a brutal pace, aggravating every ache Eddie’s been dealing with since last night. He shakes his head as Richie batters his prostate, not even entirely cognizant of what it is he’s agreeing to. “You gonna let anyone who isn’t me fuck you again?” He shakes his head again. Richie’s fingers twist into his hair and pull, forcing his head to the side so he can suck hickeys all up the side of his throat, licking over the bruises when he’s done. One hand comes down to wrap around Eddie’s cock and he squeezes his eyes shut, whining, because he’s already close. It hurts and it’s a lot but he’s so fucking close already, and Richie’s so big inside him he doesn’t thing anything else will ever compare. He clenches down around Richie and comes all over his hand, body going lax beneath him while Richie continues to fuck into him. 

He’s so damn oversensitive that he starts whimpering and pushing at Richie’s chest and shoulders, as if he’d ever be able to push him off, but Richie just grabs the belt and forces his hands up over his head, and Eddie starts sobbing. “’s too much,” he tries to tell him, feeling himself go all floaty again as Richie peppers kisses all over his cheeks and his throat, hips slamming into him so hard he’s sure his insides are going to be bruised, and his breath is stuttering in his chest as he tries to stop crying.

“No it isn’t, baby doll, because if it was too much you wouldn’t go around fucking other people, as if I weren’t enough for you.” Richie yanks on his hair, harder this time, and Eddie’s fucking astonished to realize his dick is trying to get hard again. 

Richie’s face is pinched in something like concentration while he’s fucking him, and part of him wishes he’d just come already and get it over with, but he’s pretty sure Richie’s actively resisting it, which is just as well, because another part of him entirely wants Richie to make him come on his cock a second time.

He grabs Eddie’s dick and strokes him back to hardness, colour sitting high on his cheeks, sweat making his hair cling to his forehead, and then his fingers are on Eddie’s throat again and he’s squeezing, cutting off his air, and Eddie’s just gone. His mind has severed ties with his body and it’s so good and he’s floating, and he’s simultaneously too aware of his second orgasm tearing through him and too far removed from it. 

But then Richie’s voice is drawing him back. “I could come in you, kitten, but I don’t think you deserve it after that stunt you pulled. Do you?”

“No,” Eddie says in a faraway voice. He tries to get his eyes to focus on Richie’s face above him but he’s not sure he’s successful. “No, I-- I want you to.”

“Ask nicely.” Richie’s hand is still on his throat.

“...Please?”

“What’s that, baby?”

“Please? Please come inside me.”

Richie hums, contemplative, like it isn’t fucking killing him to force himself not to come then and there. “Call me Daddy.”

And Eddie doesn’t care, Eddie doesn’t fucking care anymore, he’d do literally anything to get Richie to come in him at this point, even though everything fucking hurts and he’s positive the bus ride home tomorrow is going to be an absolute nightmare as it is. “Please, Daddy? Come inside me, Daddy?” he begs through tears, and Richie practically collapses on top of him as he pumps a load of come into him, a low moan tearing out of his chest.

They just lie there for a while, breathing, and when Richie finally pulls out of him, Eddie hisses an, “Oh, fuck.”

“I got you,” Richie says, sounding -- just like that -- like a completely different person. He’s untying the belt from Eddie’s wrists and rubbing at the marks it left on his skin, and Eddie can feel himself slowly drifting back down into his own body, which feels like it got run over by a truck. “You did good,” Richie’s telling him, kissing his forehead, and it makes him inexplicably delighted to hear that -- all warm in his chest, so much so that he can’t contain the smile it brings to his lips. 

“You think so?”

Richie lies on his side and pulls Eddie in close to put an arm around him. “Yeah, of course. You take it like a champ, haven’t I told you that?”

“Think you might’ve mentioned something like that last night,” Eddie slurs, pressing his forehead to Richie’s shoulder and sighing heavily.

“Are you alright?” Richie asks, already checking him over anyway, preparing to treat whatever injuries he’s inflicted once Eddie’s come down from it. “Are you hurting anywhere?”

Eddie huffs something that might be a laugh. “Everywhere,” he jokes, and an awful expression crosses Richie’s face, like he’s appalled with himself. 

“I’m so sorry,” he whispers, eyes shining with tears, and Eddie’s taken aback because that’s the last thing he’d expect from fucking Tozier. He brushes his hair off his forehead and cups his cheek, drawing him in for a kiss, wiping Eddie’s tears from his cheeks as he does so. “I’m sorry, baby, I should’ve been more gentle. I won’t do that again, I swear. I’m so sorry I hurt you.”

Eddie doesn’t know what to say, because is Richie seriously apologizing to him? How does his whole attitude keep doing a complete one-eighty like this? So what he ends up saying is: “Uh, no, I liked it.” At which Richie sort-of laughs, just enough to let Eddie know he isn’t going to drown in his guilt. “I’d appreciate a shower, though.”

“Why yes, of course, Your Highness. Anything for you, Your Grace,” Richie says, in possibly the worst British accent Eddie’s ever heard, even as he’s helping him to (very slowly) sit up and crawl off the bed. “Shall I ask your royal servants to prepare a wee snack for you to enjoy after your royal bath, as well?”

“Why, that would just be delightful,” Eddie responds in an equally bad accent, and Richie laughs so hard he snorts, and Eddie’s thinking it isn’t so bad that Richie refuses to leave him the fuck alone.

[taetaesbaebaepsae]

BTS When They Throw You Over Their Shoulder

anonymous asked: Could you do a reaction when Bts kiss their girlfriends neck or when she is mad and they took her over their shoulder

Warnings: mostly fluff, a strangely high amount of angst,a little smut ig, this got stupid long for what it is

Word Count: 3307

Jin

You were teasing him relentlessly, poking fun at his dad jokes in front of the boys. You'd teamed up with Jungkook, laughing and impersonating his "worldwide handsome" attitude.

Jin was annoyed but still smiling at how cute you were at first.

Jungkook did a impersonation of his kiss blowing and you squealed.

"Ooh, who's worldwide handsome now?" You breathed, squeezing Jungkook's bicep.

That was the final straw and Jin rushed at you, ducking to sweep you over one broad shoulder.

He patted your ass when you kicked and squealed for him to put you down.

He kicked the door of his bedroom shut and tossed you on the bed, jumping on top of you and nipping at your neck.

When you let out a small moan he looked up at you and smirked. "Who is worldwide handsome, again?"

Yoongi

You're bitching at him because he stayed out all night at the studio for the fourth time this week.

He isn't yelling but his tone is harsh.

"It's my job, Y/n, and it pays for this fancy apartment and all the shit you buy every month!"

Your mouth clicks closed. You can't make him understand that it isn't just that you miss him but that you're worried about him. You know he's not eating enough and the bags under his eyes tell you he's not sleeping.

But if he doesn't care enough about you to realize that and really thinks you're in this for the money, there's no point in wasting your breath.

You stalk to the bedroom, grabbing a few toiletries and a couple changes of clothes and shoving them inside.

You don't expect Yoongi to follow you but he does, arms crossed, leaning against the door jamb.

"What are you doing? Where do you think you're going?"

"I don't know. To my sister's. To my mother's. Anywhere away from you," you spit out venomously, lashing out.

He'd cut you deep with his words but you weren't one to sit back and take it.

He's shaking his head vigorously but you ignore him, finishing packing but when you go to the door he blocks you and throws you over his shoulder.

You beat your fists on his back but he ignores you.

He doesn't throw you roughly on the bed and kiss your neck like you expect. Instead, he places you down gently, or as gently as he could with you struggling against him.

He covers your body with his own, holding your face in his hands and looking down at you with dark, serious eyes.

"No. You don't get to leave me just because we had a fight. That's not how this works. We're going to talk about it because we love each other, yeah?"

You set your jaw, still angry but his eyes are shining and tears are threatening at yours, too. You know he expects a response but you can't speak.

"You still love me, doll? Tell me you still love me, yeah?" His voice is a little hoarse.

"I'll always love you, Yoongi, but sometimes I don't like you all that much."

Yoongi laughs and you can hear the relief in it.

"Sometimes I don't like you either, brat, but I don't try to leave you, do I? Don't scare me like that. My heart was beating out of my chest."

He kisses you then, long and sweet and he strokes your face.

"I'm sorry. Let's spend the day together, yeah?"

You set your jaw again. "Only if you sleep with me."

Yoongi smirks. "I thought you'd never ask."

You hit his chest with the heel of your hand.

"Actually sleep, you jerkface. I worry about you, you know."

His face softens and he flips over onto his back, tugging at your shoulder until you put your head on his chest.

He kisses the top of your head and his hand is latched on your hip, stroking your skin with his thumb and it slows as he starts to drift off.

His voice is husky and drowsy when he speaks again. "Tell me you love me again, huh, doll? One more time."

"I love you."

He kisses your hair again. "I love you more, Y/n."

You smile at how he's managed to get the last word again when you hear his soft snores.

(He sleeps for nearly ten hours and every time you try to get up he pulls you tighter to him. He doesn't rush to the studio when he wakes up like you expect, but takes you to breakfast even though it's 9pm, smiling fondly at you. When you get whipped cream on your nose from your French toast he kisses it off right in front of the waiter.)

Namjoon (RM)

"So maybe I had one too many martinis. He's not my dad."

The woman sitting at the bar blinked at you slowly.

"Honey, I don't know this boy but it seems like he's just worried about you."

"Worried? Psh. He's not worried. He's just territorial. I made a friend. What's wrong with making friends?"

"Y/n, please stop bothering this nice lady and let's go home and talk about this, yeah?"

You hear a deep voice from behind you and you spin around, stumbling and bracing yourself on the barstool.

Namjoon is standing there, teeth gritted, glaring at you.

"She's not just a nice lady. Gladys is my best friend."

"Agnes," the woman chimes in, looking Namjoon up and down. "Honey, if I were thirty years younger I'd go home with him, so my advice is to listen."

Namjoon covers his mouth, stifling a chuckle. He's cute but you're still mad at him, so you frown.

"No. I'm gonna have another drink with you, Gladys, and I'll call my friend. He put his number in my phone, I think."

You dig into your purse with slow, drunk hands and hear a low growl before you're in the air, head hanging down, hair in your face, bent over Namjoon's shoulder.

You don't have the reaction time to struggle before you're in the Uber, head lolling against the back of the seat.

Namjoon swings your legs inside and gently shuts the door, but you can hear his door slam when he gets in on the other side.

"Hey! My friend-"

Namjoon pinches the bridge of his nose with his fingers.

"Y/n I swear if you mention that guy one more time, I'm gonna lose it."

You frown because his voice seems deep and harsh and you can't remember what you've done to make him angry.

"You're so mean to me," you whine, tears tracking down your face.

Namjoon looks at you and his eyes soften. He wipes away a tear from your cheek with his thumb.

"Hey, baby, don't cry. I'm not mean, I just...it's our anniversary, remember? I wanted to be with you all night but when I came back from the restroom you were gone and then I find some guy with his arms around you...it hurt my feelings, okay?"

He speaks in a rush and then exhales forcefully.

"Oh no," you said, eyes wide. "I'm the asshole."

Namjoon laughed at that and put his arms around you.

"I'm so sorry, Joon. I love you so much," you sob, and he hugs you tighter.

"It's okay. Make it up to me tomorrow, baby."

You try to make it up to him the next morning, you really do, but he ends up taking care of you, holding your hair back as you throw up gin and olives.

When he brings you Gatorade and crackers from the corner store and kisses your forehead, you frown at him.

"This is the worst anniversary ever. I'm the worst girlfriend ever."

He chuckles, sliding into bed beside you and putting his arm around your shoulders.

"Wanna know something crazy? There's nowhere else I'd rather be and no one else I'd rather be with."

(He teases you endlessly about your five minute affair with the rando at the bar but you take it with good humor. After all, you deserve it. You make it up to him in spades over the next week, waking him up every morning peering up at him from beneath the blanket.)

Hoseok (J-Hope)

"Y/n, you're distracting me! Please leave." Hobi snaps at you when you're trying to talk to him about something in the dance room toward the end of practice.

You humph and storm out, going to the next room to talk to Jimin. You're just irritated, not really mad, and you figure you'll give him some space.

In the span of ten minutes you've forgotten about it and you're dancing with Jimin, laughing when he does an extra body roll even when the choreography doesn't call for it and clapping your hands.

Jimin's trying to teach you the movement, hands on your hips, when Hobi comes in.

"Hey, honey, look I can almost do it!"

You squeal excitedly, putting your hands over Jimin's on your hips, who's trying to back away.

Hobi walks over calmly and hefts you over his shoulder, one hand on your ass as he opens the door and takes you down the hall into the other room like a sack of potatoes.

You don't protest, giggling, and when he lies you down on one of the mats on the floor horizontal to the mirror, you smirk at him.

"Oh, I get your attention now, huh?"

He's frowning but he kisses your throat softly.

"How many times do I have to tell you that you're not allowed to get dance lessons from anyone but me?"

You shrug. "How many times do I have to tell you I don't listen? I'm still mad about that salsa class."

His frown deepens, eyes dark and he nips at your throat.

"That salsa instructor was clearly hitting on you and it's not my fault he can't take constructive criticism."

You giggle again, loving the way he stroked your throat with his fingers.

"Quit being a jerk and maybe I won't have to look elsewhere for dance lessons," you pout playfully.

His eyes widen and he trails his hand down to your hip.

"You better not," he growls.

"Well, you gonna be good?"

"I'll show you good, babygirl," he says solemnly, and then he gets up, arranging a chair in front of the mirror.

"Hey, where are you going?" You whine.

He smirks at you and bends his fingers in a "come hither motion."

"Come here and let's put this mirror to good use, yeah?"

You can't scramble up fast enough.

Taehyung (V)

"Shut up, he's sleeping!"

Taehyung hears your giggle and stops at the doorway of the bedroom.

"No, I don't want to ruin everything, I just....I don't know. When are we meeting up? Of course he doesn't know!"

His frown deepens and he walks into the kitchen. He clears his throat and your eyes widen.

"Anyway, Mom, gotta go!"

You squeal and end the call, a loud and very obviously male voice protesting on the other end.

You smile at him but he doesn't stop frowning.

"It's so early, Jaigya. Where are you you going?"

You had meant to leave for his surprise anniversary party before he ever got up, but you'd lost track of time doing your hair.

Your hair was curled and you were wearing a form fitting new dress and heels. He took in your attire, not with an appreciative glance but with a scowl.

You feel dejected. You just knew you were going to out yourself, and you'd been planning his surprise birthday party for months as it was the first in your relationship he hadn't been on tour during.

Since you were such a bad liar, you figured maybe if you just left now, you could get away with it.

"Just meeting my friend for coffee! Be back soon, babe." You kiss his cheek and go to walk out the door, but he catches your wrist.

"Give me five minutes and I'll go with you."

"N-no...you stay here and rest. I'll be back in just a couple hours." You feel like you've turned white. You still have so much to set up.

You turn to the door, but you're stopped short when he tugs at your wrist again.

"Tae, please, I gotta go-" you whine and he exhales forcefully and grabs your ass, heaving you up over his shoulder and carrying you to the bedroom.

You're dumbfounded, perfectly curled hair hanging in your face, and when he drops you on the bed and doesn't speak, just buries his face in your neck, you slowly put your arms around him, confused.

"Please don't go, Jagi." His voice is muffled against your neck.

"Come on, babe, it's just for a while...just a coffee."

He snaps his head up and his eyes are dark with anger, startling you. In the six months you'd been together he'd never gotten fully angry with you.

"I'm supposed to believe you're going for coffee dressed like this? What's going on?"

You feel the color drain from your face again.

"Nothing, Tae, please let me up. I promise when I'm back we'll talk-"

"No." He says stubbornly, voice so deep it was rumbling in his chest. "I won't let you. I don't know what's been going on but it stops right now."

You squirm under him. "Tae, come on..."

He sighs and suddenly he doesn't look angry, just miserable.

"I'm gone too much, right? Look, we can fix it. I'll take a break, okay?"

He kisses your throat, soft and sweet.

"Look, everything is fine. Don't worry. But you have to let me go because I'm gonna be late."

"Everything is not fine, Jagi! Who is he, huh?"

His eyes are flashing again and your mouth opens in surprise.

"Oh my God, Kim Taehyung, you think I'm cheating on you?" You start laughing.

He's frowning down at you. "I don't think it's funny at all how you've been lying to me all morning."

You collect yourself and stroke his face.

"You've gone and ruined everything but I can't have you thinking I am unfaithful. I'm planning a party for you. For your birthday?"

Realization dawns in his eyes and he laughs at himself, relieved.

He clutches at his chest dramatically, rolling off you to stare at the ceiling.

"Oh my God, don't do that to me again, Jagi. That was awful, my heart was broken."

You smile at him. "Aw, baby, you know I could never. Now, can I go and you pretend to be surprised when Hobi calls you?"

He grabs you and pulls you onto his lap, smirking.

"Yeah, but you're already late. What's another half an hour?"

Jimin

You and Jimin had been at each other's throats all week.

Jimin had caught the flu a week ago and you were trying to take care of him, but he was so irritable because he couldn't practice.

He was finally on the mend but he was impatient to get back to normal, being stubborn about taking his medication and trying to sneak off to the dance studio.

Now you were getting sick too, your head feeling full and your throat aching, so when he bit your head off about nothing first thing in the morning, that was the final straw.

"Look, I'm gonna stay at my mom's for a while. We need a break."

Jimin's eyes widen instantly and he scrambles up from the couch to try and put his arms around you but you block him.

"No. I'm done. All I've tried to do this week is take care of you and I just...I can't do this."

His lip starts to tremble as you get dressed but he just stands there, not speaking.

When you get to the door, though, it's like something snaps and he spins you around and hauls you up over his shoulder.

You're too tired and sick to struggle. "Jimin, what are you doing?"

He throws you on the bed and leaps on top of you, kissing you hungrily.

You squeal into his mouth. "Jimin, no, you'll get sick again!"

"I don't care. I'm gonna kiss you until you love me again," he says determined, but his voice is shaking, eyes wet, and you sigh and put your arms around his neck, pulling him close.

His face is hot against your skin.

"Jimin, you're burning up," you whisper. "Why didn't you tell me you weren't feeling well?"

"Because I know you're already tired of me. I just want to be better. You've been so good to me and I repay you by being a jerk."

His voice breaks and you take his face in your hands and kiss the tear tracks on his cheeks.

"My poor sick baby. I love taking care of you. I just... I'm not feeling so well myself."

He scrambles up to get the thermostat and pops it in your mouth despite your protest. When it beeps his eyes widen.

"All this time you've been sick too?" He says miserably. "I'm the world's worst boyfriend. No wonder you want to leave me."

"Jimin, I would never leave you. I just meant for a couple days so that I could get healthy, that's all."

He frowns. "But it's my job to help you when you're sick."

"Not when you're sick too!"

He shakes his head stubbornly. "No. You can't leave. We'll help each other, yeah?"

He slides under the blanket with you, wrapping you in his arms.

"I love you so much and I'm sorry I was a jerk. Dont ever talk about leaving again, okay? I can't take it."

"Okay," you murmur sleepily, nuzzling your face into his neck. When you kiss his throat, open mouthed, he groans.

"Don't do that, baby. We'll never get better that way."

(You stay sick for another week because you can't keep your hands off each other, but he's an angel the whole time, massaging your sore body and waiting on you hand and foot.)

Jungkook

"Don't lie to me, Jeon Jungkook. I saw no less than five pictures of you at that diner with the same girl every time!"

"Y/n, you know I would never cheat on you." Jungkook speaks through gritted teeth, trying not to raise his voice.

"Yeah, yeah, that's what they all say."

Tears are pricking at your eyes and you're trying not to let them fall. Jungkook knows your last relationship ended because of infidelity, and you don't feel like he's taking you seriously.

You know he thinks you're being irrational, but you're overanalyzing every conversation you'd had with him on tour and you can't help your mind from racing.

He's just looking at you as you keep yelling, and you're about to accuse him of not listening to you when he grabs you and hefts you over his shoulder, striding to the bedroom.

You fight him but he's strong and he pins your arms to the bed, eyes flashing.

"I am not your ex," he says firmly. "I love you and I would never hurt you like that."

You stop struggling and let the tears come, and he lets your arms go and cups your face, thumbing the tears away.

"Hey, I trust you, right? You're here for months alone, looking the way you do, and I don't accuse you of cheating."

"Except that time you saw my friend on my snap story and made up a whole affair in your head before I was able to talk to you two days later." You mumble, chuckling at him.

"I still don't like that guy. He's too touchy," he mutters and kisses your neck.

"I'm sorry. I just...I worry you'll meet someone better."

He nips at your ear. "Impossible. You're perfect for me. Now, how are you going to make this up to me, huh?"

[sheerbeautyreigns]

DESIRE

Part 52

Joe slept in until 10am that morning, which gave him enough time to have a shower and pack his belongings. While gathering the last of his toiletries, his phone rang. It was Drew. He hesitated for a moment, swallowing.

“I wasn’t sure you’d pick up.” The Scot started. “I’m sorry, I didn’t want to disturb you. I know you had an early flight…”

“So you weren”t just leaving because you felt bad?” Drew asked. “No, I…look I don’t know what to think to be honest. I didn’t think I’d see you again in that capacity.”

“I’m sorry. You know how I feel about you though? Every time we’re together, I never want it to end. You do something to me-”

“Drew don’t…” Joe couldn’t listen to him pour his guts out like this. He already felt terrible about it. “You know how I feel about you Joe. You deserve to be treated better. It’s only a matter of time until you realise that.” Joe was silent. He was scared to think that he might be right based on the ups and downs he and Paul had been experiencing. “I have to check out.” He finally said. “Just think about it OK?”

“OK.” Joe hung up. He inhaled deeply. Drew normally came across pretty passive in this situation but something had shifted. It was like he now had feelings for Joe. He couldn’t deny he felt the same way but he belonged to Paul. He had already fucked up once with Colby and he couldn’t do it again.

For the rest of the week, Joe kept himself busy with a couple of interviews, more home improvements, workouts and seeing his family. He hadn’t heard much from Paul. He knew how busy he was and to be honest, he was already nervous about seeing him. Not to mention meeting his friends. The very though of it made him anxious. He hadn’t been taking his pills, as prescribed by his doctor as often as he should. He hated to rely on them but he would have to start. As he washed one down with a mouthful of water, his phone rang.

“Hey baby, how are you?” Paul sounded happy. Joe started to pace around his bedroom. “I’m good. I wanted to call during the week but I knew how busy you were.” He lied. “I always have time for you, no matter what.” The thought made him feel even worse. “I miss you.”

“I miss you too baby but it’s already Saturday and I get you all to myself from tomorrow. I booked something special for us in San Francisco. I think you’ll like it.”

“Can’t wait.” Joe smiled. “What time will you be at the arena from tomorrow?”

“About 5pm. I have a couple of meetings. Are you ready for your match?” He checked. “You know me, always ready.”

“I’m glad you’re feeling more positive baby.” He could sense the smile in Paul’s voice. “No use in complaining. Should be a good match, although I probably won’t be saying that afterwards.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll give you something to look forward to after.” Paul replied. “Is that a threat or a promise?” Joe retorted.

Guess you’ll just have to wait and see. OK babe, I’m gonna have an early night but I can’t wait to see you tomorrow. I love you.”

“Love you too.”

Joe and Colby had just finished their Steel Cage match. Everything had gone smoothly and the crowd were really into it chanting “This is awesome” and “Holy shit” throughout. Both men hurt like hell but they were both happy. Joe left first since he was first to escape over the top of the cage and retain his title. When he came into Gorilla, he saw Paul for the first time that evening. He was sat with Vince wearing a white shirt and grey suit. Vince got up and came towards Joe to hug him and congratulate him on a great match. Joe eyes met Paul’s as he hugged Vince. A small smile crossed his face before he too got up and hugged Joe. “I’ll call you soon.” He simply said. Joe wandered off to the mens locker room. He could feel his stomach drop when he saw Drew sat alone, talking on his phone. Their eyes met for a moment before Joe went to his case which was located on the other side of the room. It sounded like he might be talking to a family member. Joe went about removing his vest and boots. He could feel Drew watching him from behind while he spoke. Thankfully, Colby entered.

“Aww man that was awesome but not gonna lie, I’m getting too old for this shit.” Colby grinned before wincing. “You say that every time. You gotta ease up on those chair shots though.” Joe joked. Drew groaned, getting up and left the room, seemingly in a huff. “Jeez what’s wrong with him?” Colby asked rolling his eyes. “Who knows.” Joe grabbed his towel and went into the shower.

When he returned, he had a missed call from Paul. “Hey, sorry, I just got out of the shower.” His eyes met Drew’s as he entered the room again. Colby had left. “OK babe, there’ll be a car waiting for you. I’m just arriving at the hotel.”

“OK I’m just packing up here and I’ll be over. By the way, where are you?” Joe asked, going through his bag. “The Fairmont? You didn’t have to…” Joe couldn’t help but notice the smirk on Drew”s face. “…OK I won’t be long…Love you too.” Joe started to get changed, slipping into his boxers and a pair of comfortable black Under Armour bottoms. “You almost sounded like you meant that.” Drew commented. Joe passed him a glance. “I do mean it.”

“Until he really hurts you again.” Drew retorted. “This is not the time or place.” Joe was getting annoyed now. “You weren’t saying that in my hotel room the other night.”

“Don’t you dare bring-” Joe words were cut short when a couple of members of the road crew entered. Drew could only smirk. Was he resorting to blackmailing now? Whatever it was, Joe didn’t like it one bit. He quickly finished getting changed and left.

It was around 10:30pm when Joe arrived at Paul’s suite. He was on the phone when he answered. Paul motioned that he was almost finished the call as Joe walked in. The suite was impressive, as expected. Paul always had good taste. Joe took his cases into the bedroom and went about hanging up a few pieces of clothing while Paul’s conversation rolled on.

When Joe was finished, he gingerly appeared at the bedroom door and watched as Paul sat at his laptop while on the phone. He motioned for the young man to come sit on his lap to which Joe obliged. He wrapped his arms around Paul’s neck and traced small kisses along his stubble, down to his neck. Paul quickly ended the call and pulled Joe body against his. “You have no idea how much I missed you this week.” He placed his palms on either side of his face and kissed him passionately. “I missed you too.” Joe smiled kissing him back. “I like this suite.”

“I wanted something special for us since we have more time together this week. How do you feel?” Paul asked looking up into his eyes. “A little achey from the match but I”ll be fine.”

“I don’t want you to be hurting on Wednesday night so I’ve arranged for you to have a nice massage tomorrow downstairs.”

“You don’t have to worry about me, I’ll be fine.” Joe assured him. “I know you will but it's gonna be pretty physical in LA so I just want you to rest beforehand.”

“Have you made any arrangements yet?” Joe asked carefully.

“I was thinking, it might be nice to let you do your own thing for some of the night. Would you like that?” Paul asked, playing with a strand of his hair. “Really? I thought I was there to submit and do whatever you say?”

“You will be but I thought it’d be nice to reward you a little too. Let you fuck whoever you want before I have my way with you.” A small smile crept onto Joe face. “I’d like that.” He licked his lips. “Wednesday night is very important to me. These people are important to me.”

“I understand.” Joe nodded. “Good boy. I know you won’t let me down.” Paul smiled.

[urdbell18]

A Seed Hidden In the Heart Chapter 14: The One Where Paris isn’t the City of Romance pt. 2 side A

Zelda arrived at Charles de Gaulle a little after 6am. She was tired both physically and mentally, she could never sleep on planes and being next to Faustus didn’t help. She couldn’t relax enough to even micro sleep not when every time Faustus moved it made her jump out of her skin. According to the itinerary that Faustus gave her they would spend the majority of the morning and afternoon settling into their hotel and then after some of the groups would do a night tour of one of the museums. The groups that weren’t going on the tour where going to a movie that was playing not that far from their hotel. Zelda’s group wasn’t going on the tour and for that she was grateful, she didn’t think she could muster the energy to walk around and pay attention to her students.

Between the airport and the bus Faustus took charge, the students listened well enough to him so all Zelda had to do was make sure there were no stranglers and do the occasional head check. When they got to the hotel it was still serving breakfast and the hotel was kind enough to let them eat while Faustus collected the keys to their rooms. When they were done they moved to an unoccupied meeting room so they weren’t crowding the lobby.

“Attention students.” The students loud chattering instantly died down. Zelda might not like Faustus anymore but she did respect the power he had over his students. “I have your room assignments. There will absolutely be no swapping, any student who is found outside their assigned room will lose the privilege to go into the city no excuses. Any student found with an unauthorized person in their room or outside after curfew will also be banned and you will be suspended once we return to the Academy. Before I hand out room assignments I would like to point out our guest. Everyone this is Ms. Zelda Spellman.” Faustus pointed at her and with everyone's attention on her Zelda nodded politely. “Ms. Spellman is taking the place of my wife so treat her as you would Mrs. Blackwood. Now for the rooms…” Faustus then spent the next fifteen minutes handing out rooms to both students and teachers. When they were done they headed to their rooms in small groups. After the last of the students that went up with Zelda entered their rooms Zelda entered hers and collapsed onto the bed with a soft groan. With hours until their next activity Zelda could do what she wanted.

There were two things that Zelda at the moment wanted, sleep and a hot shower. Sleep was unattainable, she had coffee at breakfast and now she was wide awake. So she decided to shoot for the attainable. Using the luggage rack from the closet Zelda propped open her suitcase against the wall near her bed. When she opened her suitcase something felt… off. She was sure it wasn’t the way she packed it but couldn’t say it for certain. After all she packed almost half a week ago and a lot has happened between then and now. She tried not to let it bug her until she saw it under a stack of shirts. Now she might not remember everything that she packed but she knew for a fact that Ambrose’s laptop should not be in her suitcase. She pulled it out, the power cord was still attached but coiled neatly in a manner that Zelda appreciated.  When she opened the lid there was a single post it note on the screen that said: in due time. Only Mary would be that cryptic and Zelda, wondering what her girlfriend had planned, placed the laptop on the table but went back to finding her toiletry bag.

With her bag and fresh underthings Zelda entered the bathroom. It was nice and spacious, the smooth marble felt cool under her feet.  The light tan color of the floor and the shower stall made a nice contrast to the white fixtures of sinks and the bathtub making it easy on the eyes instead of blinding like a pure white bathroom would do. The second Zelda laid eyes on the tub thoughts of taking a shower left her. The tub was clawed foot with a high back and little gold legs. It looked absolutely inviting and Zelda decided to give in. As hot water filled the tub Zelda looked around the bathroom to see what was provided; soap, shampoo, lotion, and towels, basic hotel things. After measuring the towels and finding even the biggest towel a little too short Zelda left the bathroom to get a robe from the closet. She was still alone in her hotel room, she was suppose to have a roommate but so far they were a no show. Despite being alone Zelda locked the bathroom door behind her, she felt more secure with the door locked. When the tub was halfway full Zelda added some mint bath salt in the water, the scent wafted in the air to create a nice subtle aroma. When the tub was ready Zelda, after placing a towel on the floor and her hair in a bun to keep it dry, got in. A moan of absolute bliss escaped Zelda’s lips. The hot water felt absolutely wonderful on her tired muscles. What would have made this moment absolutely perfect was some soft music and maybe some wine but this was pretty good on its own. She was in the tube for about twenty minutes before the water became too cool for her liking. After towel driving off and placing on her fresh underwear she wrapped the robe around her body, making sure it was tired nicely in place and covering everything she wanted covered. Stepping out into the main room sent a chill down her spine but the robe kept some of the warmth from her bath so it was short. The warmth and relax feeling didn’t last.

“What are you doing here Faustus?” Faustus turned from the full length mirror where he stood. Faustus was the only person that Zelda knew who would travel in a three piece suit. His jacket was folded over the back of a chair and the color of his shirt was popped up. He was unbuttoning the cuffs of his shirt when he saw her.

“Staff room arrangement were made months ago I saw no reason to change them.” He gave Zelda a look of indifference as though he didn’t understand why she was making a raise of them being in the same room. Oh, there were plenty of reasons why Zelda could object but Faustus just turned into the bathroom leaving her just standing there. Zelda huffed and went straight to her suitcase to get dressed, she quickly pulled on some pants and a new shirt. A few minutes later she heard the shower go off, it was her chance to make a quick escape. After grabbing her roomkey, purse, and book she left. When she got into the elevator she let out a sigh of relief, it was the first breath she could release without her chest tightening. After she arrived at the lobby she went to the front desk to inquire about a different room, she wanted to be moved into a single but the person behind the desk apologized and said they were full. Zelda understood, it was the holidays and people traveled. It looked like she was stuck with Faustus. Her only saving grace was Faustus was old fashion so she had her own bed. If they were sharing Zelda would have packed up her things and left Hawthorne be damned.

Not wanting to go back to her room Zelda spent a minute thinking where she wanted to go. The hotel had a bar and she could go there order a glass of wine or some scotch as she read her book but it was early and she was in Paris. Paris was known for a lot of things and its been years since she’s been to a cafe. That’s where she went, there was a cafe on the same block as the hotel and the weather was nice that she could sit outside in the parisian air while looking over the seine. She was harder to find this way which sealed the deal. Or so she thought. For about an hour she was undisturbed, she ordered some tea and sipped it off and on  as she read her book which she planned to introduce to her French 3 class during their final month.

“Ms. Spellman.” Zelda looked up from her book to see Prudence. Even though it had been a few years Zelda remembered Prudence. Prudence and her friends Agatha and Dorcas are what Sabrina calls ‘the mean girl clique’ of the Academy. Zelda did not deny that Prudence had a power over the teachers that other students didn’t posses. In her tenure at the Academy Prudence had gotten away with several rule breaking actions with little to no consequence all because of her connection to Faustus. Illaginament or not Prudence milked the fact that she is Faustus’ daughter to anyone who crossed her. Zelda knowing that this trip would go easier if she was on Prudence’s good side put on a respectful smile.  

“Prudence nice to see you.”

“I’m surprised to see you. I haven’t seen you at the Academy in almost five years.”

“I needed a change of pace.”

“To a public school where you’re overworked and paid very little? Father said that your principle makes you teach all of the foreign language classes all on your own with no break.”

“Funny I don’t remember asking for your or your father’s opinion.”

“Rumor has it you left the Academy due to a personal falling out with Father.”

“Well I can’t help what you children think.”

“It’s not us who think this. It’s the teachers. It was all forgotten until Father mentioned that you would be joining us on this trip. Some even objected to you going.”

“I’m sure they did. Now if you are done boring me with ancient history I would like to return to my reading.”

“Certainly. But as the saying goes history comes back to haunt us. See you later Ms. Spellman.” Zelda watched Prudence go. While she remained perfectly composed her blood boiled. She didn’t need Prudence to bring up her past or remind her that she was at risk of relieving it. She knew that the second Constance said she was taking her place. What she will not do is fall back on those old ways, she was better, had to be better than that. For herself and more importantly for Vida. No longer in the mood to read she downed the rest of her tea despite it going cold and left.

_______________

It was late when Zelda and her group returned to the hotel. If she remembered her military time 22:50 meant it was almost eleven and they had to be up early. Even though it was only 5:00 back home Zelda was exhausted. With Faustus on first patrol she enjoyed the freedom of being alone. Though she kept as much distance between herself and Faustus as she could without making it obvious this was the first time that she could relax. She dressed in her nightgown and while she was applying lotion to her elbows her phone rang. She cursed at being disturbed but when she saw Mary’s name and picture flash on the screen she scrambled to answer it.

“Hi!”

“Is this a bad time?”

“Not at all. I miss you. God I’ve only been gone for less then a day and I miss you and Vida so much.”

“Well I have something that could help with that. Did you find the surprise I left you?”

“If you’re referring to Ambrose’s laptop I did. How did you get that in my suitcase?”

“I have my ways. Now here’s what I want you to do. Power on the laptop.” Zelda whispered an okay and went to the table that she placed Ambrose’s laptop. As it booted up she found an outlet to place the plug in.

“Alright it’s on.”

“Okay first are you connected to the internet?” It took Zelda a minute to figure out where that would be displayed on the laptop and then connect to the wifi of the hotel. When she confirmed that she was connected Mary continued. “Okay I want you to open a web browser and you should see a link on the home page that says Skype, click on it.”

“Okay then what?”

“Wait for it.” After clicking the link Zelda waited for the website to load, she noted that it was all set up and on the screen was a symbol that looked like a phone in a green circle and under the button it said ‘call home’. Zelda pressed it and a minute later Mary was on the screen with her cellphone pressed to her ear smirking at her. Zelda sat in her seat in complete disbelief. She couldn’t believe that Mary was really there, yes she was seeing her through a screen but she was there. And that overwhelming feeling that filled her made tears form, a few fell. “Don’t do that when I’m not there. You know how I am when I see you cry.” Zelda did know. Mary’s overprotective nature made her go on the defense when someone she cared for was hurt. Zelda might not be the most forthcoming with her emotions but everytime she displayed hurt Mary was there in a nanosecond doing what she can to make it better rather it be a hug or threat of harm on her behalf. It made Zelda miss her that much more. It took her a minute but Zelda was able to compose herself, to push back her tears.

“How’s it going over there?”

“You mean is your house still standing? It’s perfectly intact.”

“And Vida?”

“Rough. According to Hilda she didn’t sleep at all last night. She went from one room to the next but never settling down. She’s been sleeping off and on all day.” Zelda didn’t think it would be possible for her heart to break even more than it was but at that moment it did. Hearing her baby suffering because she wasn’t there, it made her wonder if Vida was truly okay when she spent those nights at Mary’s. But Hilda would have told her if something was wrong and this was completely different. Vida was already vulnerable emotionally, her leaving just added fuel to the fire. It meant drastic measures must be taken and she made a mental note to call Hilda when she was done talking to Mary. “Hang on a second Zelda.” Zelda nodded and Mary left the screen. Where Mary’s head used to be was a picture, it was a bit blurry but something nagged at Zelda that she had seen it before. The longer she stared at it the more the feeling grew and that’s when it hit her. It was her brother’s wedding picture which was hung on the wall just outside the kitchen. Mary was in her house. Why was Mary in her house? Mary came back, in her arms was Vida. “You want to say hi to your Mommy?” Zelda could pick up the faint whine of her daughter as she lifted her head from Mary’s shoulder. Zelda knew instantly that Vida was tired, her eye’s didn’t have that shine behind them and she looked a little pale.

“Hi baby.” Some color came to Vida’s face when she could register that the image on the computer was real. A grin, a smile that Zelda always associate with Vida, spread across Vida’s face. To Zelda it felt like it happened in slow motion but in reality was a nanosecond but seeing that light come back into her daughter, it made her feel a little better.

“Mommy!” Vida got as close to the computer as she could, taking up a majority of the screen. The screen shook and Zelda could hear Mary telling Vida to back up a little and after some readjusting Zelda had a good view of Vida and Mary. “I miss you Mommy.”

“I miss you too baby. Just five more days and I’ll be home. Mary says you’ve been sleepy. What happened why couldn’t you sleep last night?”

“Missed you.”

“Did you remember what I said?” Vida, after stifling a yawn, nodded. “Good. I expect a lot of good stories from you. Do you have plans?” Vida shook her head but Mary nudged her.

“Yes you do. Remember we’re going to the aquarium on Tuesday.”

“Oh yeah.” Mary and Zelda smiled at each other. Vida was a combination of tired and emotionally drained, there was only so much they were going to get out of her. Out of the corner of her eye Mary looked at something and it caused her to frown.

“We only have two more minutes. Is there anything else you want to say to your Mommy Vida?” Vida just shook her head and started to squirm out of Mary’s hold. She ran off the second Mary put her down. Zelda, though crushed, understood why her daughter ran, she couldn’t handle another goodbye. “Zelda I-”

“It’s okay. I have to tell you something and I better make it quick. I have a bottle of my perfume on my vanity squirt some on her blanket, the small blue one and wrap Oso in it. From Vida’s books take Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? I don’t recall if I have it in english I know I have it in Spanish. It should knock her right out.”

“Okay I think I can manage.”

“One last thing. Why are you in my house?”

“Vida needed me.” Zelda smiled and after saying goodbye Mary vanished from the screen. Zelda sat at the computer for a minute still trying to process what happened. Some time, Zelda didn’t know when, Mary set up this Skype thing to help her through this ordeal. And she dropped everything to go to her house to help with Vida on top of watching her when Hilda was away. While Zelda kept saying she was ready for Mary to take on more she didn’t expect Mary to take on this much so quickly. Zelda even revealed her secret bed time routine for when Vida needed that extra bit of comfort. Thinking of it now she did have Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? in English but Vida responded better with the Spanish version. It would be interesting to hear how it went with Mary. The door to her hotel room slammed closed and Zelda turned around to see Faustus enter, his face full of exhaustion.

“What?”

“Nothing.” Zelda turned back to the computer and shut it down. Behind her she could hear Faustus move around but she wasn’t tense. She was completely relaxed, not jumpy or on edge. She settled into her bed, not given Faustus any mind and fell into a deep sleep.

_______________

Being a chaperone was if anything tedious. Zelda’s duties were limited to making sure that the students that were in her group stayed in eye sight and were respectful to whoever was their tour guide at the moment. She tried to do something that would reflect her role as not only a teacher but someone who knew the language and the city. She was shot down every time, dismissed or ignored like she didn’t say anything. Eventually she just kept her mouth shut. Though not treated like an equal she still had the same duties like taking a night shift. Night shifts were split into three hour blocks where a chaperone like herself would overlook the hallways that housed the rooms that were occupied by the students. Staff patrol started around eleven and the last shift was at 5. If on the first patrol they would do a bed check and a final head count before Faustus would put tape on the doors. Her job was to make sure the tape didn’t break. It was a boring job, one that Zelda found herself almost falling asleep on.

Tuesday was relatively going to be an easy day. The students were scheduled to take one of the featured tours then after lunch to explore the museum on their own to work on some project they were assigned, Zelda was never given any details nor asked. They arrived at the Louvre just as it opened, it was an early tour. A tour guide was supposed to meet them outside the museum to start the tour with the museums bigger pieces; the museum itself. There guide wasn’t there and that cause Faustus to go into a tirade with the person running the ticket office. His tantrum, as Zelda saw it, attracted the attention of one of the museums curators. The curator apologized but said that there was some sort of mix up in confirming the tour and that all their tours for that day were full. They were offered audio tours free of charge but that didn’t please Faustus. He scoffed and waved at his deputy saying to handle it. He stormed off, no one made a move to chase him. The deputy after cutting the tension that Faustus storming off caused moved the students to collect the audio tours. Zelda hung back even as the students and some of the chaperone’s moved into the museum, she was too focused on the curator. The second that Zelda saw the curator she couldn’t help but think she saw this woman before, it was on the tip of her brain but she couldn’t grasp it. The curator, when the last of Zelda’s party had moved on, looked at her the same way.

“Zelda? No it can’t be.” The curator stepped closer and Zelda, who was about one second to go onto the defence, didn’t when she saw the name of the woman’s badge.

“Isabeth. Long time no seen.” After embracing they kissed each other’s cheek, a common greeting in France.

“What are you doing here? I distinctly remember you saying that once you left you’d never return which you know broke my heart because I was never leaving.”

“It’s a long story.”

“Ooh. This I’ve got to hear.” Isabeth offered Zelda her elbow, she took it and they walked into the museum.

______________

“So why are you in Paris?” Zelda looked at Isabeth over the rim of her tea cup. Isabeth led her through the back tunnels of the museum to her office. It was quite impressive with a large oak desk and several paintings on the wall. Zelda and Isabeth sat at the tea table that was next to a large picture window that offered an amazing birds eye view of the main floor of the museum. Isabeth’s assistant brought them a tray of warm tea and some small pastries. Zelda wasn’t hungry so she just took tea.

“I’m filling in for another teacher.” Isabeth’s eyes went wide and she started to laugh like she just heard the greatest joke ever.

“You’re a teacher!? I don’t know who I feel more sorry for you or your students. Tell me you don’t work for the man who behaves like a five year old?”

“For the next three days I do and after that I hope to never see him again. And considering I have a four year old I resent that.” If it was possible Isabeth’s eyes went even wider but this time shock.

“You have a kid!? Now you must start at the beginning.”

“Where do you want me to start?”

“How about when you left Paris. What happened to you ma cherie?” Zelda took a generous sip of her tea before setting down her cup. She sat there in silence, watching the liquid swirl around inside the cup and running her thumb over the edge of the rim.

“My brother found me the second I stepped foot off the train.”

“No!”

“Mhm. Took me back that same day. My mother was furious.”

“And what she punished you by making you became a teacher?”

“No that’s my own doing.”

“What do you mean?”

“My brother and his wife died orphaning their daughter, my niece Sabrina. At the time I worked as a midwife but the hours were so inconsistent that I had to find another job that would let me be home at night with Sabrina so Hilda could work. It’s how I got tangled with Faustus.”

“Who?”

“The man that was yelling in front of your museum.”

“Ah. The five year old.”

“I told you I take offense to that. My four year old is perfectly well behaved.”

“Yes yes you’ve mentioned that and we’ll get back to that little tidbit later for now I want you to tell me about this Faustus guy there’s history I’m sure.” Isabeth took a silver case out of her pocket and pulled out a cigarette, she offered one to Zelda but she declined. Zelda quit officially when she and Hilda got permanent custody of Sabrina.

“Faustus and my brother worked together. They started a school back where I lived and it became successful. When Edward died Faustus took over the running of the school. When I needed a more stable job that’s where I went and he started my teaching career. At the time I wasn’t qualified and knew nothing about teaching but Faustus knew my skills in languages and used me first as a teaching aid and then later I became a full blown teacher. We… got much closer than we should have. He was married and that was a line I never thought I would cross but I did. I kick myself every time I think about that first time because it created this… need in me and I couldn’t have chosen the worst person to satisfy it. It went on much longer than I’m proud to admit it did. I then committed the greatest betrayal there was.

Faustus hired me to be a midwife to his wife, she was having trouble maintaining a pregnancy and he thought I could help. I took the job and even knowing that he was trying to create a family I still saw him intimately. A consequence is that I became pregnant. I didn’t know what I was going to do. I knew I was capable of raising a child because I’ve been raising Sabrina since she was not even a year old. I was also having a married man’s baby, my child would be the same age as his wife’s. And did I also want to bring a child into this world knowing the only reason she existed was because of an affair? I couldn’t come to a decision on my own and some stupid part of me though it be fair that I get Faustus opinion. To this day I can’t get over how he snarled at me like it was my fault that this parasite was growing inside me. He gave me two options, keep the child and never set foot in his eyesight again or get rid of it and never talk about it again. You know what choice I made.”

“For the better I hope?”

“Walking away was the best thing I ever did. I might despise Faustus but he gave me the best gift ever, my daughter.” Isabeth gave a small smile and nodded to herself.

“May I?” Zelda took out her phone and pulled up the pictures she had of Vida. She had several, ranging from back when Vida was a baby to now. There was a few of Sabrina, Ambrose, and Hilda, it would be the first time that Isabeth would see what her sister looked like instead of having to rely on the description that Zelda have given her. “Adorable. Looks just like you, and for that I am sorry.”

“Hey!”

“Not like that. If she is anything like you with the brains to match that beauty the rest of us are in trouble.”

“So Hilda keeps saying.”

“Who is this?” Isabeth turned the face of her phone to her to show a picture of her Mary and Vida from Christmas. They were in their Christmas pjs sitting on the couch. Vida was curled between them and Zelda had her head on Mary’s shoulder. Mary’s finger could just be seen tangled in her hair. If memory serves Zelda well it was Sabrina who took the picture.

“That’s Mary she’s my girlfriend.”

“Girlfriend as in romantic? Zelda nodded and Isabeth gasped in shock. “Zelda! Well at least your taste in women is better than your taste in men.” Zelda just glared but a moment later she smiled. She wasn’t quite sure how much of Isabeth’s approval she wanted but she was glad her old friend didn’t judge her. Her phone started to vibrate and Faustus’ number flashed on the screen.

“I have to get going.”

“Very well. It was nice catching up with you Zelda, I’ll walk you out.” At the elevator Isabeth hugged her and they kissed each other’s cheeks one last time before Zelda look the elevator back down to the main floor of the museum. Faustus was in the lobby, he wasn’t very happy with her but Zelda waved him off. It was nice to confide in someone, catching up with an old friend made it that much better.

___________________

Zelda could not express the joy she felt on Thursday. She was going home tomorrow! They were taking the early flight home so she would be back in Greendale, back home with her family before dinner. She wished she could talk to Mary but this wasn’t the first time she cursed the time difference. Since talking with Mary on the Skype she had this strange feeling, an empty open air kind of feeling whenever she slept on her side. Sleeping on her back was fine but on her side she felt like something was missing. It was Mary, Mary was missing. She was missing the warmth of Mary pressed against her back as she slept and she wondered when she grew accustomed to that feeling. How she slept without it. Zelda couldn’t dwell on it, the more she thought about her family the more eager she was to go home. She needed to stay calm, focused so she wasn’t on edge.

That afternoon was a bus tour to see the parts of the city they didn’t have time for and then they went back to the hotel so the students could work on their assignments. Zelda took the time to pack, she kept a set of clothes out but made sure that her suitcase was neatly packed and that the items that she needed like her passport were in reach. After some debate she packed Ambrose’s laptop, she wanted to talk to Mary and her daughter one last time but she also didn’t want to forget it either. When she was done packing she turned around to see Faustus, he looked like he was in discomfort.

“Is something wrong?”

“The rest of the faculty members and myself are going to have dinner at the hotel tonight you are welcomed to join us.”

“I don’t know.”

“Come on Zelda it’s just dinner. I know you’ve felt like you haven’t really been apart of the group but you worked just as hard as the rest of us. You have every right to attend.”

“I’ll think about it.” Faustus gave her a smile that once upon a time Zelda found charming but now it sent a twisting feeling in her gut. He left and Zelda was left to think about the offer.

She decided to take the dinner offer. She found a dress that she packed just in case and went down to the lobby. She told the matradee that she was joining another party and gave him Faustus’ name. He led her to a table that was set for two. Though the martdee left her Zelda was hesitant on sitting down. Faustus said this was a staff dinner there was more than just two of them. What was going on? Against her better judgement she sat down and waited for Faustus. Faustus arrived fifteen minutes later, he was lucky she was going to leave in five more minutes.

“Zelda.”

“You said this was a staff dinner.”

“Yes everyone else had other plans.” Zelda didn’t believe him but she had no proof and she was hungry so she bit her tongue. They sat in silence minus them ordering their food and that was fine with Zelda, she wouldn’t choose Faustus as a dining companion if he was the last person on earth. “How is your sister?”

“Excuse me?”

“Just trying to lighten the mood.”

“Don’t.” They didn’t talk again and when their meal was done Zelda was finishing off her wine before heading back to her room.

“Zelda there is something that I want to talk to you about.”

“Make it quick.”

“I want you to come back to the Academy Zelda, the school isn’t the same without you. I miss you.”

“I’m not coming back Faustus.”

“If you won’t come back at least can I get to know her.” Zelda’s heart ran cold at the same time her blood ran hot with rage.

“You bastard. You have no right.”

“She’s my daughter Zelda.”

“You didn’t even want her!”

“Zelda calm-”

“No listen to me very carefully Faustus. You gave up any right to her when you said for me to get rid of her. I made the choice to keep her, she’s mine you have no right to her and I would die before I let you have any part of her.” Zelda not caring who was watching her stormed out of the restaurant. She could not believe Faustus would pull this crap. He had no right to suddenly change his mind for whatever reason he thought was a good reason. It made her sick and when she got to her room she hastily changed and left with her suitcase in hand.

It wasn’t until she was in the sky on a flight to London that Zelda allowed herself to process her emotions. She was angry, flabbergasted, that Faustus would want to, after five years, be apart of Vida’s life. She was also scared. Faustus was a man with means and she knew his reputation of getting what he wanted in the end. What did that mean for her? For Vida? Whatever he wanted Zelda wouldn’t allow it. He made up his mind, she made up hers. There was no hope in changing it.

____________________

When she got off of her connector flight it was early in the morning. She didn’t want to cause a panic so after picking up her suitcases she took a cab home. It was more costly that way but it was the best option. Seeing her house set a wave of emotion through her. She was home. Entering the house she heard her family in the kitchen sitting down for breakfast.

“When’s Zelda’s flight coming in?” From where she stood Zelda could see into the kitchen without herself being seen. Hilda was buzzing around setting down a plate of eggs, Sabrina and Ambrose were in their usual place on the bench, and Mary was next to Vida. Her spot at the front was left vacant.

“Early afternoon I think. If we leave here around noon that should make up the time for us to get there and her going through customs to meet her at bag check.” Mary cut up Vida’s pancakes before moving to her own. Vida wasted no time, she shoved two pieces into her mouth covering her face in blueberry.

“Vida slow down before you choke.” There was a collective gasp before everyone turned to her. Vida was the first to recover, she scrambled out of her seat and ran to her.

“Mommy!” Zelda picked up her daughter, squeezing her tight. She missed everyone but she missed Vida the most. And with Faustus… Zelda tried not to think about it. Zeld went around the table to hug her family, when she got to Mary they shared a kiss before she took her seat with Vida in her lap. Everyone talked over each other as they ate but Zelda didn’t mind. She was with her family, with her daughter and Mary. She was home.

[fortisfiliae]

Against the Odds - Part 2 [James Potter x reader]

Prompt: College AU ❃ Jocks are disgusting. Too good looking, too aware of it, too drunk and too dumb. Or so you thought.

A/n: This is the second part for @marvelcapsicle ‘s writing challenge. Pic is not mine (also look at this smiling cutie). If you need to zoom in on the texts, just click on the picture to do so.

Find the other parts on my Masterlist linked in my bio!

Warnings: swearing, mentions of alcohol, mentions of needles and blood donations

Word count: 2.8k

Part 2 - My sandwiches, my soda, my blood

Sunday:

So James had texted you. He really had. Wow. And he had managed to come off even more confident by only using six words and a winking smiley-face. Douchey. But somehow still cute. How he managed to be arrogant and sweet at the same time would forever be a mystery.

You lay in bed and read those six words over and over again, your fingers hovering above the keyboard on your phone. What should you answer? Should you answer at all? Or should let a couple hours pass, to not seem like you waited for him to text you? Oh, this texting-etiquette where everyone wanted to come off as not interested at all, was a huge load of crap. Still, you contemplated what the right thing to say was. 

You weren’t even sure if you wanted to see him. Alone at least. You didn’t know him so it would be really unsafe, wouldn’t it? He could be a mass murderer after all. But he was Remus’ friend, so he probably wasn’t. It would be so easy to decline. Just a “No thanks”, or simply blocking him, like he had suggested yesterday. But there was something about him. Something that made your tummy tingle. So you kept on thinking. He wanted to meet on Wednesday. Wednesday, Wednesday... Oh damn, Wednesday! You had plans already. Convenient for the part of you that didn’t want to meet him, frustrating for the part that did.

Yikes. That sounded rough. Better add something to make it less bitchy.

Good. A reasonable explanation. Not mean, just honest.

That was... Nice! Nothing a mass murderer would say. Right? Probably not. You smiled to yourself and put the phone back on the nightstand, your attention wandering back to your laptop. You went for a couple of episodes of The Office, something light and funny. It was good, made you laugh here and there, but you caught yourself looking over to the nightstand a couple of times, just checking if a text had arrived that you hadn’t noticed. 

Some hours later your roommate Louise returned from her boyfriend’s and plopped down on her bed.

“Hey,” she mumbled into her pillow. She’s seen better days for sure.

“Hey. Are you okay?”

She raised her head, her hair tousled and makeup smeared across her face. “I am. Just a rough night.”

“Where have you been?”

“The frat party,” she said and scratched the back of her head. “Hey, is it possible that I’ve seen you there?”

“Um, yeah. I’ve been there.”

“Really! I knew it. I saw you sitting on the couch with these guys. First I thought it might be someone else because I’ve never seen you at the frat before. But then I saw you talking to this Remus guy and I know you’ve told me you’re friends with him once.”

“Yeah, he invited me. It was nice actually. Very loud and stuffy. But fun.”

“Are you going out with him?”

“With who?”

“Remus.”

“No. No, no. We’re just friends. He’s really nice though. Introduced me to some people.”

“Oh, I see,” she said and grinned mischievously. “Well, good. Glad you had fun.”

“Thanks! Glad you had fun too!”

“Ugh, yeah.” She sat up with an effort and went to open the drawer with her toiletries. “I smell and feel like shit. I’m going to take a shower. See you then.”

Monday:

A few minutes past 11, you were in bed already and listened to Louise breathing slowly in her sleep. Lights were out, it was completely dark in your room, you were on the verge of sleeping, but checked your phone one last time. Just in case some jock had texted you. Not that you were thinking of him, or anything. Just in case. 

Tuesday:

It’s been a long day. You were reunited with your laptop again, watched this futuristic horror-show and tried to overhear Louise on the phone, talking to her boyfriend. How much time could a couple spend together until they’d start hating each other? What did they even have to tell each other anymore? She had come to your room twenty minutes ago and was talking to him for at least ten now. That means she had last seen him about half an hour ago. Well, everyone’s talented in their own ways. You tried to push your headphones further into your ears and put the sound up a little more, to concentrate on the plot of the episode, when your phone vibrated once. 

Wednesday:

You went to the blood drive at 8.30, half an hour before it would open, so the staff could show you around once more. The red cross had pitched up a huge tent, in which you had to sit at the entry to welcome the donors. A guy in his fifties handed you the sign-up sheets and told you what questions you had to ask each person. Easy peasy. It was pretty quiet all morning. Not a lot of people could be bothered to wake up early if they had a day off of school apparently. Some freshman came, probably to skip classes, since all of them asked for an attendance note. It got quite busy around noon - the line of people got so long from time to time, that some had to wait outside.  The afternoon was when it got tiring. Not because there were more people, they came and went in waves. But you were hungry and asking the same questions all day had become annoying. You felt your concentration fading with each sheet you gave out and were looking forward to closing and go home.  It felt like an eternity had passed until the older guy, who had shown you around in the morning, came up to you and told you that there were only a few people left in line and they would be done for the day when those one’s had donated.

Finally. You didn’t even know how late it was, probably around 6 p.m., when the last person in line eventually came up to you. You looked up and saw a familiar pair of brown eyes behind some wild, black curls. James.

“Wha- Hi.” You said and caught yourself raking your fingers through your hair. “You here?”

“Hey,” he said and grinned, his hands hidden behind his back. “Last person for today, huh.”

“I guess so,” you said, a smile on your face as you slid a sign-up sheet across the table. “I got to ask you two questions.”

“Go ahead.”

“Did you drink and eat enough today?”

“I have.”

“Did you drink alcohol in the last 24 hours?”

“I haven’t.”

“Didn’t you say you had a beer last night?”

“Oh yeah. Root beer.”

You frowned. “Root beer?”

“Yes, root beer.”

“Did you really plan to come and donate?”

“I did, on Sunday.”

Had he planned it since you had told him about it? “Good.” You cleared your throat. “You need to fill this out, please. There are some more detailed questions on the list. The guy over there has to check your answers before they’ll draw your blood.”

James nodded and bent over to fill in his data while putting a brown paper bag on the table. He started scribbling his name and day of birth when he asked: “Did you donate too?”

“I wanted to do it before I’d go home, but I think I haven’t eaten enough. Practice what you preach, you know.”

He chuckled and pushed the paper bag closer to you. “I bought you a sandwich.”

“What?”

“Yeah, I thought maybe you wouldn’t have time to eat, so I figured I’d bring one. And a coke, for later.”

You opened up the bag and looked inside to see a cheese tomato sandwich and a can of soda, which looked like a five-course meal at that moment. “Oh my god. Thank you so much. You don’t know how much I need this right now.”

“No problem, darling.”

Darling. He was the only person to ever call you that. You cleared your throat again as you opened the plastic wrap of the sandwich. “Do you want some?”

“No,” he said and grinned again. “I’ve had mine on the way. Eat up. And fill out your registration. I don’t want them to stab me alone.” 

It was quiet in the back of the tent - only a few people were left to donate. They were all lying down on what looked like portable hospital beds, while five of those beds were empty already.

A short woman with curly blonde hair brought you over to two of the empty beds. “Alright, who wants to go first?”

James looked at you as if he wanted to ask if he should volunteer, but you said: “Can I go first? So it’s over faster.”

“Sure. Ladies first.”

You sat down on the bed, while James did the same on the one beside you when the woman started to arrange the needles and other props. After rolling up your sleeve and positioning your arm so she could insert the tube into your vein, you tried to avoid looking at what she was about to do. The thought of it alone made you nauseous. You let your head fall back, looked up to the ceiling of the tent and inhaled heavily.

“You okay?”, James asked from the side.

“I’m nervous,” you said. “Not a big fan of needles.”

“Alright. Look at me.”

You did and watched him pushing up his glasses on the bridge of his nose. He just sat there and stared back, looked into your eyes and tilted his head slightly with a tiny smile on his lips.

“Aren’t you supposed to distract me?” you asked jokingly.

“I am. Look. It’s all done.”

The lady nodded and handed you a small plastic ball, that you had to squeeze until the bag attached to the tube in your arm was full. She went and did the same to James, who turned to look at you, one eye squeezed shut. 

“Not my favorite thing to do either,” he admitted.

“Alright, you two. Here’s your ball, Mister. You can keep them,” the woman said. “I’ll see you in a few minutes. The devices next to the bags will beep when it’s done.”

You watched her go looking after the other donors. She seemed tired as well but was better at hiding it than you were. It was a strange sensation, squeezing the ball and feeling warmth leaving your arm. You tried to distract yourself from this thought again and looked over to James, who was looking around aimlessly as well.

“You have no idea how bad I want to drink that coke right now,” you said after a while. “Thanks again by the way. That was really sweet.”

James smiled, his eyes lit up for a brief moment and he looked like he wanted to high-five himself. “Anything for you,” he said playfully. “My sandwiches, my soda, my blood.”

Even though you rolled your eyes, it made you laugh and a minute later the devices attached to your blood bags started beeping.

“So, are you going back to your dorm now?”, James asked when you had left the red cross tent.

“Yeah, it’s only five minutes away.”

“Mind if I walk you home?”

“Uh, sure. Yeah, sure!” you said and took the can out of your bag. Finally. The low hiss that escaped when you cracked it open was worth every ounce of blood. “You want some?”

“No, it’s yours,” he said as you started walking.

“Come on, you’ve earned it.”

James laughed, took the can and had a sip. “Thanks.”

You walked slower than usual, sharing the drink after every other sip and wondered why Netflix suddenly didn’t have the same appeal anymore. Conversation ran surprisingly smooth. It was like he always knew what to say. James sure was funny, but he was really good at making small talk interesting. Maybe that’s why Louise talked to her boyfriend non stop.

You could have easily gone for another five (or forty-five) minute walk, but no matter how slowly you tried to walk, you eventually took the last sip of coke and arrived at the doorstep of your dorm.

“So,” you said and turned around to say goodbye.

“So.”

“Thank you for coming today. I really appreciate it.”

“Anytime darling. It was a pleasure to be stabbed next to you,” he answered and winked. What a dork. “Text you tomorrow?”

“Sure. Or tonight?” 

He suddenly took a step closer, a sly smile on his face - you didn’t know what was going to happen. Would he kiss you? What was he doing? Before you knew, he placed a peck on your cheek, quickly turned around and left.

James turned his head after a few steps and called: “Bye darling.”

You watched him go, grinning stupidly but unable to answer, and looked down to the can in your hand. It was crushed. 

Find the other parts on my Masterlist linked in my bio!

Permanent tags:

@geeksareunique @ren-ela @marauderskeeper @way-obsessed5 @oreofrappiewithblueberry @draqcnheartstrinq @dogfatherpads @whatisthisthingcalledlife @obscurilicious @maralisa124 @sjriusblck @siriuslyimmoony @theboywhocriedlupin @igotmadskills @emi-loser @diggorysghost @jamcspotters @thisismysecrethappyplace @vulpecula-minor @snarledblack @swellwriting @fandomtravels

Against the Odds tags:

@lolingggatu @sly-vixen-up2nogood @axielle-suson @sweetlyshinylady @harrypotterimmaginaa @yourhufflepufftrash @eastcoasthaven @tired-eyes-fairy-lights

Bold = Cannot be tagged, sorry! If you want to be tagged/untagged let me know!

[lenfaz]

Sea Squad, ch. 13 (13/14)

Summary: Killian Jones has always managed tough spots in his con life… but never like this one. His brother is out of jail and convinced the only way to win his name back is to heist the casino of a major Vegas mogul, leaving Killian to do the planning. He now has to deal with a half-brother desperate to gain a name of his own, an ex-fling that carries her own torch against the casino mogul, his brother losing his mind over his ex-wife,  his former mentor’s depression and the one woman he can’t get out of his mind giving him chase. Ocean’s Eleven AU

Rating: M

Content warnings: semi-explicit sexual content, law-breaking (they are thieves, liars and con men), mild violence (someone will get punched), mention of former relationships (for the main pair) and cheating (but not for the main pair)

Banner (link to banner post) and art by the amazing @clockadile Go check her art tag for the fic here!

This fic would never exist without the wonderful @sambethe who convinced me to do over hot chocolate on one cold Chicago afternoon and virtually held my hand and betaed this fic for months. thank you SO much for everything you do.

A/N: A long time ago there was talk about Hook & his sea friends and a few collective posts shaped the idea of a Sea Squad. This fic is the attempt to bring that creativity to life. Tagging @queen-mabs-revenge   @thesschesthair   and @jvosketches as they were part of that initial thinking back in the day. If a few things sound familiar, it’s because they are based on the movie.

Link to  FFnet & AO3

on tumblr: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8  9 10 11 12

Chapter 13

I did something stupid back in the day, lad… and while trying to fix it, I might have uncovered something that I’m not sure if you wanted to know.

Now, we don’t have time and I know everyone thinks I’ll make it. But just in case… if you want to know who you are, Henry… talk to Smee, lad. Tell him to show you what we found out.

Anton’s punch to his gut pulled Killian from his thoughts. Taking a deep breath, he grunted and slammed his fist against the floor, holding onto the pain. His face had remained almost unscathed, nothing but a small bruise along his left cheekbone and another on his jaw. As much as he wanted to preserve it completely, he knew Gold wouldn’t buy it if his face was unscathed.

The door opened while he lay on the floor, and Killian closed his eyes for a brief second, playing the part of a beaten-up rival. His hand moved to hold onto his ribs, grunting in pain.

“Get him up,” Gold ordered, and his two goons moved to follow orders, pulling Killian up without any consideration to his possible wounds. Once again, Killian mustered all his energy to play his part. Lifting his head, he met Gold’s eyes. His suit jacket was askew, his shirt untucked, and a couple of buttons were missing. His pants had dust marks all over them. Tilting his head to the side, Killian smiled at Gold, wincing at the very last minute to show pain.

“Gold, I didn’t think you’d grace me with your presence. Not when you had such a wonderful host tending to my every need.” He spat on the floor - a mix of saliva and blood. Anton had been gentle, but the man was a still a half-giant with a steel punch. “Tell me, how is the other fight going? It is as fixed as this one?”

“Did you have a hand in this?” Gold scrutinized his face, his eyes drilling a hole on Killian’s forehead.

“A hand in what?” Killian moved his eyes around room, working to appear as if he were assessing the space. “Your wife? You know I did.”

The punch came from his left, one of Gold’s goons hitting his cheekbone and making Killian see stars. He moved his jaw left and right. He deserved that one, but he couldn’t help himself. He’d say it again if the opportunity arise.

“I’m going to ask you one more time, dearie.” Gold leaned on his cane, his mouth twisting in a grimace. “Did you have a hand in this?”

“Gold, I have no bloody clue what you’re talking about.” Killian spat the words, ensuring he was delivering them with the appropriately frustrated tone. “I’ve been locked up in here, a room with no view I might add, my body getting closely acquainted with the fists of your roughneck.”

Silence stretched between them, feeling the room with a thick air of anticipation as Killian waited and waited some more, his face devoid of any emotion except confusion, pain, and tiredness. He was pulling out all the stops on this one. It would make Nemo proud if he could see him. But alas, no cameras in this room.

Finally, Gold tilted his head, his face contorting into a condescending smile. “Fine. You’re free to go, Mr. Jones.” He moved to address his man. “Show him out. We have work to do.”

Killian made a show of buttoning his shirt back up and tugging at the lapels of his jacket before he made to follow the men out of the room. One more step down, only a few more to go.

He needed to give the delivery of his lifetime and he needed to do it at the appropriate time in the appropriate place.

After all, it was all about the setting.

/-/

“Are you sure you don’t want me to stay?” Emma asked the question for what felt like the eleventh time, although it truthfully was only the third or fourth. A duffel bag laid open on the bed and a suitcase already stood by the entrance. Her packing was almost done. She hadn’t brought much - part of always being on the road or on the run meant you got used to living with only carrying the essentials - and she was finishing arranging her toiletries in her bag.

She’d been in Belle’s suite when she’d received the call from Gold. It hadn’t taken her by surprise. The moment the power went out, Emma knew her chances with Gold were gone. And if she were honest with herself, Emma knew the moment she didn’t inform Gold that she’d spotted Killian Jones lurking around his casino, she’d made her choice. And now she had to live with it. Belle had gone with her to Emma’s room and was currently pacing back and forth.

“I don’t want you to get into trouble.” She pulled the sides of her cardigan sweater tight over her frame, averting her eyes.

“I don’t care about being in trouble, Belle.”

“I’m sorry, Emma” Belle was on the verge of tears. “Robert, he sometimes-”

Emma closed the distance between them and laid a comforting hand on Belle’s arm. “Hey, hey. You’re not responsible for what Gold does. Or Liam, or any of them for that matter.” She smiled, an idea coming to her. “Belle why don't’ you come with me? What are you going to do here anyway?” She didn’t want to leave Belle alone - or at the mercy of Gold if he figured out who was behind the robbery. It wasn’t just that she’d promised Killian, it was that Belle didn’t deserve to be caught in the crossfire.

Belle shook her head, pursing her lips. “I can’t… not yet. I just I need time to think.”

Emma kept her voice gentle. “Think about what?”

“Whether or not I can trust him again.”

Emma didn’t ask which him Belle meant, because by the frazzled look in her eyes, she wasn’t sure even Belle herself knew. She only knew she couldn’t leave her here in this state.

“How about a cup of tea before I go?” Before Belle had time to protest, Emma shrugged her shoulder. “Look if Gold wants to time my exit and remove me forcefully, so be it. I’m a big girl, I can take it.”

Belle pondered her words for a moment before she gave Emma a small smile. “Let me get the Keurig settled.” She stepped out of the bedroom and moved into the living room. Emma quickly shut her duffel bag and grabbed it. She was about to leave the room when her phone rang. The screen read Unknown Number. Her heart beating frantically on her chest, Emma took the call.

“Hello?”

The voice that spoke sounded tiny, like it was far, far away. “Turn to channel 88. Make sure Belle is watching.”

Reaching for the remote, and fearing the worst, Emma turned on the TV. The image on the screen and the little piece of sound she was able to catch had Emma quickly raising her voice as she called for Belle.

“Belle, come here! You might want to ditch the tea and bring some alcohol instead.”

/-/

We’re all set.

Those words were exactly what Killian had been waiting for as he slowly walked down the hallway, dragging his feet a little in an effort to show he’d been beaten to a pulp by Anton.

He lifted his head and spoke into the emptiness ahead of him. “What happened tonight? Did you get robbed or something?”

Gold’s reply from the other side of the hall came almost immediately. “Stop.”

Stopping in his tracks, Killian bent his head as he turned around, hiding his smirk. When he finally looked up, Gold was in his face.

“I am going to give you one more time to come forward, dearie. Where is my money?”

“Are you willing to make a deal for it, Gold?” Killian waited for two seconds, letting the words sink in and peak Gold’s interest. “What if I tell you that you can get your money back if you give up Belle?”

Gold raised his eyebrows and twisted his lips in a grimace. “Belle, huh?”

Killian shrugged. “What can I say? My brother still loves her. They were happy together.” Meeting his eyes directly, Killian dropped the affable mask. “You and I both know the only reason you went after her was because you knew it’d bring my brother pain. And therefore, it would bring me pain.”

Gold didn’t even flinch, his smile turning into something evil and maniac. “Oh yes, I intended to make you suffer. I still do.”

“Careful there. You need me if you want to get your money back. So why don’t we try that again?”

Gold hesitated and Killian knew he was weighing in on his options. Was his hatred for Killian and his family so deep that he’d risk never seeing his hundreds of millions again? Killian wasn’t going to give the man too much time to make a decision. “Do we have a deal, Gold?”

“Fine.” Gold huffed and Killian allowed himself a tiny smile. It would be out of character if he didn’t at least show some satisfaction about one-upping his nemesis.

“I know some people. I made a few new contacts while teaching celebrities to play poker in L.A. Give me a few days, I’ll find out who has your money.”

Gold wasn’t impressed, not in the least. He clenched his jaw and Killian had to bite his tongue to keep the smile off from his face. “I will hunt you down, dearie. This is not over. I can still make you suffer.”

Killian adjusted the lapels of his suit. “That threat got old a few years ago, and you’ve burnt more than your fair share of bridges since then. Especially with the people you’d hired to hunt me down last time. Such a tricky thing, not paying your debts.” Killian paused and shot him a small grin. “And let’s face it, anyone else you can think of hiring to hurt me and my brother like us more than they like you. So unless you’re willing to get your own hands dirty, which we know you aren’t, you’re left with no other choice."

Gold’s eye twitched and for a moment there, Killian thought he was going to punch him. But in the end, he simply gave Killian a dark look before turning to one of his security guards. “Call the police. Alert them of Liam Jones possibly breaking his parole, as I’m sure he’s nearby, and turn Mr. Jones here into their custody. He was acting suspiciously on casino grounds.”

Well, that was nothing that a little charm and some bail money couldn’t fix. And Killian had both in spades now. He let the guard walk him to the casino lobby. As he was being escorted, the ding of the elevator made him turn his head just in time to see Emma and Belle quickly making their way out of the hotel, carrying a suitcase and travel bag between them. They were close to the entrance when Ursula approached them.

As he waited for the police to show up, Killian couldn’t hide his smile. Belle and Emma clearly had gotten the message.

All was well.

Almost.

[blueboxesandtrafficcones]

Second Chance at Forever - Chapter 14

Chapter 14 of this year’s entry for the @dwsecretsanta, my present to @wordsintimeandspace!  Beta’d by the always-kind @stupidsatsuma​.  Thank you!

@doctorroseprompts​ and @timepetalscollective​ as an AU fic

General warnings for: alcohol use, cursing, discussions of sexual activities and mature situations.  No explicit love scenes.

Masterlist

AO3

Summary

Once upon a time, a boy and girl met at a bar and fell in love - until he ghosted her.

Five years later Rose Tyler’s best friend Mickey is getting married, and arranges a dinner for her to meet the groomsman she’ll be walking with - unaware that the two already know each other.

John Noble’s not sure how his friend and mentee managed to connive with the Universe to bring the One Who Got Away back into his life; all he knows it carefully built and maintained walls are crashing to the ground with no warning.

At first, John’s few functioning brain cells assumed the noise was his pulse beating in his ears.  He and Rose were tangled on the couch, her hand in his pants while his were occupied at her chest. They were kissing frantically, sloppily, too focused on the pleasure they were bringing their partner to concentrate properly.

Then he heard his name.  Not just the sexy way Rose was whispering it, but his sister’s obnoxious loudmouth calling for him.

Reluctantly tearing his mouth away from hers, he propped himself up slightly and strained to listen.

“No, shh, John,” Rose pleaded, and the way she said it meant he wasn’t imagining things.

“Please tell me my sister’s not outside our door.”

She pulled him back to her by his half-undone tie, mouth latching onto his adam’s apple.  “She’ll go away.  Don’t stop.”

The choice was taken away from him by the door slamming open, and they both moaned in regret.  With no time to hide what they’d been up to, John just shifted higher to cover Rose’s bare chest as Donna stalked in.

“Oh, you have got to be shitting me,” the redhead fumed as she came around the couch and found them lying together.  “I’ve been calling for an hour!”

“Go away,” John said firmly, knowing if she had gone to the effort of showing up something was seriously wrong but wanting to hold onto denial a few moments longer.  “We’re busy.”

“You have the rest of your lives to shag,” Donna was unsympathetically blunt.  “But I need Rose, now.”

“So do I,” he muttered before her words processed.  “Wait, what?”

Rose wriggled beneath him, achieving nothing more than torturing him.  “Donna, can you give us a minute?  Maybe wait in the kitchen?”

Standing above them with her arms crossed, lit by the moonlight coming from the floor-to-ceiling windows, Donna cut an imposing figure.  “I’ll be at the window.  Don’t you dare do anything but stand up and put yourself back together.”  She spun on her heel, walking the few yards to stare out at the city.

Glancing down at Rose, he held her eye for a moment before she pinched his side.  Sighing heavily he stood, offering Rose a hand up.  It didn’t take them long to make themselves presentable, though John winced as his zipper made a loud noise in the otherwise quiet room.

Once they were ready Rose turned on the light on the end table, bathing the room in a soft glow.  “Sorry, Donna.  What’s going on?”

Donna returned to them, and the two women sat gingerly.  Not quite ready to meet his sister’s eye and needing time to get himself under control, John busied himself in the kitchen preparing tea.  He couldn’t hear much of what was being said, but didn’t need to; he knew his sister, and it would have to be an absolute crisis at work to show up at Rose’s door unannounced at midnight.

Fetching Rose’s purse from where it had dropped by the door, he fished out her phone and plugged it into the charger on the counter.  Sure enough the screen showed more than a dozen missed texts and calls from Donna. Fixing each a cuppa to taste, he brought them back to the sitting area just as Rose buried her head in her hands.

“Here, love.”  He would be lying to say he wasn’t irritated at the interruption, but made a conscious effort to clear his expression before she looked up.  Whatever was wrong wasn’t her fault, or at least not deliberately with the intention of ruining their night.  She had been plenty understanding the few times he’d been called away for a medical emergency, not least of which being his month-long trip to Haiti; now it was his turn.

A relationship, a marriage, like the one they were building would only succeed with equality.  Support went both ways, and he would be damned before he gave her any reason to hesitate about his commitment.

“What’s going on?” he asked quietly, settling one palm on Rose’s back as she sank into his side, blowing gently on her tea.

“This morning Rose presented a new spread to our- her biggest client, and the meeting went well, they loved it,” Donna sighed, watching Rose with sympathy.  “But… the meeting was with the number two guy.  Apparently when he presented it to his boss, at ten o’clock tonight no less, she flipped her shit.  We’ll lose the account if it’s not redone to new specs by eight Friday morning.  It took more than an hour to negotiate them down to that, if you can believe.  The owner wanted it Monday morning, but Harriet – the owner of our firm convinced her that was unreasonable.  If they like what we come up with by Friday, they’ll pay for both sets of designs and stay clients; if Yvonne doesn’t, she won’t pay a penny and will pull her business.”

“And she’s an important client?” John gathered.

Rose moaned.  “Millions of pounds a year.  We’ve been working on this for months, it was perfect.  Witch.”

“What can I do to help?”

His girlfriend straightened up with a pout.  “Not much, I’m afraid.  I’m going to have to work pretty much straight through to get this done in time, even with the extra help Harriet’s promised me.”

“Then you’ll do that,” he said brusquely, already formulating and discarding half a dozen plans.  “I’ll handle everything else.  Take a shower, wash your face.  I’ll have some war supplies ready for you by the time you’re done.  Go, go.”

Rose stood, taking the time to lean down and kiss him.  “We really will have to wait for after the wedding now,” she whispered, but he just shook his head, pressing his lips to hers.

“Don’t worry about that.  Do what you need to.”  As soon as she disappeared down the hall he went into crisis mode, heading for the kitchen and pulling out canvas bags, his sister trailing behind.

“So, sorry for interrupting what I walked in on,” Donna mentioned, leaning against the countertop.

“Me too,” was all he said, focusing on his plan.  Grabbing down every insulated travel mug they had, he started filling them with tea before refilling the kettle for more.  Opening the snack cabinet, he pulled out everything relatively healthy and started throwing it in a bag.  “Can you...”  Gesturing towards the whistling kettle he didn’t wait for a response, heading for the bedroom.

Locating her overnight bag in the back of her closet, he efficiently packed two changes of clothes and comfortable shoes.  A quick raid of her gym bag produced on-the-go toiletries, which got tossed in as well. Returning to the kitchen with a detour to drop the bag by the door, he took over the tea-making, tightly closing the lid of the last travel mug by the time Rose reappeared in yoga pants and a tee, one it took him a moment to realize came from his own drawer unless she’d gone to Cambridge Med School without telling him.

“Right, I’ll head in and get started, Donna, go home and get some rest.  I’ll need you first thing,” she started, before stopping to stare at the now-cluttered counter.  “What’s all this?”

“Supplies,” John shrugged, crossing his arms as he leaned back against the counter.  Donna’s gaze was burning a hole in the side of his head, making him flush, but he refused to feel ashamed of showing how much he loved Rose.

She slowly shook her head, expression softening.  “I know you said… thank you, John.”

“Anything for you.  There’s also a bag by the door.”

Padding up to him, she tugged him down for a firm kiss, momentarily sucking at his bottom lip before releasing him.  “I love you.”

“Love you too.  You’re taking a cab, yeah?”

Rose nodded.  “I’ll text you, but probably won’t be home before tomorrow night.  Er, tonight, I guess,” she corrected herself, seeing the time. “Don’t forget to feed the cat.”

“I won’t.  Now, shoo.  The sooner you go the sooner you can come back.”

With one last kiss for her and a wave to his sister, the girls were gone in a whirlwind, leaving him alone in the kitchen.

Tardis came barreling in then, jumping up onto the counter and nosing around some of the food he’d left out.  John sighed, pushing her away and starting to restore the room to normalcy.

“Guess it’s you and me now, girl.”

The next day was Saturday, and he puttered around the flat for part of the morning before deciding to unpack some of the boxes sitting around.  Most of them were books, cds, and knickknacks, and he took his time arranging them just so.  Rose had cleared some space for his things, and he killed some time reorganizing for fun.

He spent the afternoon polishing the finals for his various classes, drawing up study guides and planning the last week of lessons.  By teatime he was bored and lonely, unable to remember how he’d survived on his own for so many years.  The cat was somewhat of a comfort, having a living creature there to talk to instead of thin air.

Rose appeared around nine, taking a shower and scarfing down a salad before collapsing into bed.  Despite the early hour he went with her at her request, holding her close in the dark as she slept.  When he woke at dawn she was already gone, and he trudged through most of the day in a grumpy mood.

When five rolled around and he didn’t hear from her he texted her himself.

How’s it going?

She responded almost instantly.  Ugh.  Ok, I guess, but UGH, with an angry person emoji attached for good measure.

Dinner?

Probably takeaway in a few hours.  Too busy.  Sorry.  This time, the tiny face was pouting.

Tapping the phone against his thigh as he debated, he ran his idea past Tardis.  “What do you think, girl?”

He took the meowing for a yes.

“Ugh, that’s not going to work,” Rose groaned, throwing her pen on the table in front of her and closing her eyes in frustration.  The office was empty on a Sunday evening except for them, so they’d taken over the main conference room to make use of the large whiteboards.  She was incredibly grateful to the ragtag team Harriet had scrambled together for her, but so far all they had to show was a lot of terrible ideas and a few with potential.  The idea was out there, just waiting to be had, but they were running on fumes at this point.  “Let’s… let’s take a break for a few minutes, order some dinner.  Yeah?”

There were five of them; Rose and Donna of course, and to her surprise Harriet as well.  Her boss and mentor had roped in one of the more junior girls, a lovely if too-perky woman named Mel, and an intern named Bill, who had lots of brilliant out-of-the-box ideas that would work for any other client, but not Yvonne.

“I don’t think that’ll be necessary,” Donna commented, staring behind her.  “Look.”

Rose looked over her shoulder, gasping when she realized her eyes weren’t playing tricks on her.  Jumping from her chair, she hurried to the door and threw it open to let John and two other men in.  She didn’t know who they were, but one carried pizza boxes and the other a bag of chips and pop, so she didn’t care.

“What’re you doing here?” she asked in delight, throwing her arms around John.  He hugged her back, the bags he carried thumping against her spine but she didn’t care, too happy to see him.

“I brought reinforcements and some temporary help, hope that’s all right.”

Mindful of the glass walls of the conference room she didn’t snog the daylights out of him like she wanted to, merely squeezed tighter.  “Thank you.”

Taking one of the bags from him they walked in together to find one of the two men already regaling the women with a lively story.

“Jack,” John said in a warning tone, and the man turned with a smile.  He was handsome, tall and broad shoulders, and if she didn’t have John he would’ve been just her type.

“What?  Trying to lighten the mood!”

“That’s what the food is for.”  The other man was dressed in a three-piece suit, and said it with such a resigned, fond air that said maybe Rose wasn’t Jack’s type after all.  “You all look like you need a break, come eat.”

“Thanks, Yan.”  Donna was first to the food, the other three exchanging bewildered looks as they followed her.

“Yes, thank you…” Harriet trailed off expectantly, raising an eyebrow at Rose as she put some salad on a paper plate.

“Oh!  Of course.  Um, Harriet, this is my boyfriend John, and… I honestly have no idea.”

Donna snorted.  “Pretty boy is Jack, he’s a friend of ours, and this is Ianto.  Hopefully here to be our barista?” she smiled sweetly, fluttering her eyelashes up at Ianto and making him laugh.

“Certainly.”

Everyone filled a plate, relaxing at the conference table to eat and chat.  Settling down with John next to her, Rose grinned to see her team come alive again.  Using her left hand to eat, she laid her right on his thigh under the table, squeezing in thanks.  Glancing at her he grinned, taking her hand with his as they ate.

After an hour Jack cleared his throat, smiling as the laughter from his last story died down.  “Now, I believe we’ve taken up enough of your time and recharged your batteries.  We can go if you’d like to get back to work.”

Donna bolted upright, eyes going wide.  “Jack!”

“Donna!”

“I’m an idiot!” she gushed.  “You used to work for Yvonne Hartman, didn’t you?”

Jack and Ianto exchanged glances.  “We both did, why?”

Rose followed Donna’s train of thought.  “Oh, perfect!  We can’t confirm or deny if she’s a client of ours, but would you mind if we bounced some ideas off you that she might like?”

Jack’s eyebrow raised, but he nodded.  “Absolutely.  What’s going on?”

The week passed slowly, Rose spending the majority of her time at the office and coming home only to sleep.  John took the opportunity to greatly extend his office hours, and was pleased that most of his students stopped by at least once.

When he would finally pack up he’d call for takeaway, stopping by Rose’s office so she could take a break and they could eat together.  The team had been good for brainstorming, but Rose was handling most of the work to keep consistency.  He would fill their dinner hour with teaching anecdotes and stories from his travels, doing his best to keep Rose laughing and at ease.

Once she’d get back to work he would pull out his laptop, sometimes taking up her couch or working at Donna’s desk if she needed the room to herself.  He had plenty of his own work to keep busy with, and the hours would pass quickly until she was ready to call it a night.

When her alarm went off at five on Friday morning, he wrapped his arm around her waist to keep her against him.

“Jo-ohn, I’ve gotta go,” she whined, nonetheless happily rolling into his chest and burrowing down.

“In a minute,” he promised, “just need a morning cuddle.  And to talk to you.”

“Mhmm?”

“Can you come home after your presentation?”

Rose tensed in his arms for a minute, before sighing.  “Depends on what Yvonne decides.”

“You’ve had a long week, and you need a break,” he said firmly.  “The rehearsal’s tonight, the wedding tomorrow, and you should decompress first.  Even if it’s to come home and nap.”

“Is that your suggestion as a doctor?” she teased, pressing a kiss to his bare chest.

“Yep.”  He patted her bum before releasing her.  “Think about it, I’ll be here all day unless a crisis comes up.”

Rose rolled out of bed, stretching her arms above her head before moving towards the shower.  “I’ll text you one way or another.”

Watching her bum sway as she moved, he wished the wedding would be over soon so he could finally follow her in.

Two more days.

John looked up from the textbook he was reading, brow furrowed.  Music was coming from the hall, but before he could go see what it was, the song coalesced into We Are the Champions, and he stood grinning as Rose burst into the flat.

“-keep on fighting, til the end!”  Kicking off her heels and dropping her purse at the door, she sprinted towards him and leapt into his arms, laughing.

“I take it the presentation went well?” he rumbled, holding her tighter as she sprinkled kisses over his face.

“It went perfectly,” she gushed, wrapping her legs around his waist.  “She loved it!  She’s still a bitch for making us redo it all at the last minute, but honestly this was even better than the original and she’s going to keep us and I got a raise and I love you so much!”

John laughed, returning to the couch and settling down with her in his lap.  “That’s amazing, love.  Congratulations.”

“Mhmm.”  She kissed him leisurely.  “And I know I’ve already got next week off but Harriet’s going to give it to me without using my time, so I am all. yours.”

“You weren’t already?”

“Oh, shut up.”  Rose was smiling too hard for him to take her seriously though.  “All we need to do is get through tonight and tomorrow, then we are off to Bermuda for a week.”

John hummed.  “Sand, sun…”

“Sex,” she corrected sternly.  “Play your cards right, and I’ll let you out of bed to eat.  Maybe.”

“Sounds perfect.”

They snogged, hands roaming and clutching long enough to be breathing hard when they finally pulled away.  “What do you say we head to the hotel early?”

John smiled and pointed at the bags waiting by the door.  “Say the word, my love.”

They were able to check in when they got there, and Rose threw herself onto the bed with a laugh, pleased when she bounced.  “We’ve got four hours before we’re supposed to meet, whatever shall we do?” she teased, giving him her best ‘come hither’ look.

John joined her on the bed, stretching out next to her with an amused smile.  “You were asleep in the taxi, love,” he said gently, putting his hand on her hip.  “I think a nap’s in order.”

She pouted, sticking out her lower lip.  “Haven’t we waited long enough?”

He groaned, leaning forward to capture it between his own.  “Temptress. A little longer won’t kill us. Let’s get through the rehearsal dinner, yeah?  Then see what happens tonight.”

“Mhkay.”  Cradling the back of his head with her hand, she pulled him with her as she lay down.  “Kiss me to sleep?”

The last thing she remembered was his tongue in her mouth and hand on her bum.

They walked into the ballroom arm in arm, stopping just inside the doors as Rose gasped.  “This is beautiful!”  Nearly all the decorations were up except the flowers, which were due for delivery the following morning.

The wide aisle was marked with three sets of three-foot high pillars, waiting for vases of white roses.  Candles lined the space between the pillars; for safety reasons they were battery-operated candles, but Rose suspected the visual would be no less stunning because of that.  At the end of the aisle stood a dais with a frame, sheer white drapes drawn back and secured with ribbons.

They were still early despite being the last ones there, and her brother was the first to notice them.

“Rosie!” he shrieked from the front row, racing down the aisle to fling himself at her.  “You’re here!”

“Of course I’m here, silly, I’m in the wedding too,” she teased, swinging him up into her arms as they moved towards the rest of the group.  “You remember John.”

“Hi.”  Tony waved with a grin.

John smiled.  “How’s it going?”

“Good!  My Rosie’s here now.”  The boy nodded seriously, and Rose coughed to hide a laugh as John winked at her.

“I know exactly how you feel, mate.”

The rehearsal seemed to take forever, though Rose didn’t know if that was because of the wait for dinner or the expectation of what might happen with John when they were finally alone again.

They spent most of the practice sharing smiles, making it difficult to concentrate on anything else.  Being the lowest ranking members of the wedding party worked in their favor; they walked first, stood at the end of their respective lines, and had zero responsibilities during the ceremony itself.  A few times Rose caught glares from her mother, but she ignored them in favor of making faces at John in a bid to get him to laugh.

When the rehearsal was finally over and it was time for the dinner, they held tightly to each other as they followed the group to the hotel’s restaurant.  They were in a private room, still a rather intimate group at fourteen around a single, long table.

Once they ordered came the toasts.  As the hosts of the dinner, Rose’s father stood and said a few kind words about Mickey, and by some miracle managed to keep her mother from speaking as well.

Mickey’s toast was funny and poignant, and Rose leaned into John’s side as she blotted away tears while they raised their glasses.

“All right?” he murmured, wrapping an arm around her back and pulling her closer.

She nodded, smiling up at him.  “I’m just so damn happy for him.  He deserves the world, and I think Martha’s the answer to that.”

“Agreed.”

The dinner went quickly, jokes and personal stories flying from every corner.  Rose spoke about when she and Mickey were children, while John shared stories from trips he and Martha had taken with Doctors Overseas, highlighting her bravery and calmness under pressure.

Due to the early morning the group split not long after dessert, though by mutual agreement John and Rose headed for the hotel bar instead.  Settling together at a table near the edge of the dance floor, they ordered wine.

“To the happy couple,” John toasted, holding up his glass.

“May they have a long and happy life together,” she added, clinking their glasses before sipping.  “I still find it a little hard to believe, Mickey getting married.  I think I half expected him to be a perennial bachelor.”

“That’s what Donna’s always said about me,” he snorted, leaning closer.  “Look at us.”

“Mhmm.”  Rose slid her chair a little closer, tangling her legs with his under the table.  “Not planning on permanent bachelor-hood, then?”

“I think I found an acceptable alternative.”  His palm was warm on her knee, thumb rubbing back and forth at the inner crease of the joint and making warmth pool low in her gut that had nothing to do with the alcohol.

“Is that so?” she murmured, and they met in the middle for a chaste kiss.  When they pulled apart a band was setting up on the small stage, a singer dressed in forties garb talking to the bartender.  “Looks like there’s about to be music.”

John merely took her hand, waiting until the singer introduced herself and the first strands of music began to play to say, “May I have this dance?”

“Of course.”  Rose let him pull her to her feet, stepping into his arms just as she recognized the song, smiling.  “At last,” she sang softly in his ear as they swayed, “my love has come along.”

“My lonely days are over,” he took it up, “and life is like a song.”

Rose let herself sink deeper in his arms until they were pressed tightly together, barely moving to the music.  The song felt like the sign she hadn’t known she’d been waiting for, but nothing had ever felt more right than this moment.

She loved this man with all her heart, trusted him without hesitation.  He’d long since proved himself to her, shown the true depth of character she’d seen hints of the first time they were together.  Her doubts were gone, having evaporated months ago, and any last stubborn spots were wiped clean by how he’d handled the previous week.  Never pressuring her in any way, never suggesting she do anything other than what she needed with the exception of getting more sleep, he took care of her, being there when she needed him and waiting patiently in the wings if she didn’t.

This was it; this was their moment.

At last.

As the final strains of the song faded out, she went up on tiptoe to whisper in his ear.  “John?”

“Yes love?”

“Take me to bed.”

[aliceinthewritingrepublic]

The Spiral on the Edge - VI

Story Title: The Spiral on the Edge

Fandom: Boku no Hero Academia

Pairing: Bakugou Katsuki/Reader

Rating: MA

Story Tag: tsote

-

When you see an attractive stranger while partying, you decide that it has been too long since you’ve had an adventure. The exact terms of your loose liaison are soon put to the test.

-

Word Count: 2693

Without you asking him to, Katsuki had made room in his life for you. You were not sure whether he had done so intentionally or whether he had even noticed himself doing so – but it was undebatable that you were now a constant in the formula of his everyday life.

From your toiletries in the bathroom to the ever-respawning bottle of your favorite soda in the refrigerator, you had, for all intents and purposes, become the fourth teammate in the guys’ three-men living arrangement.

Today was not the first time you had taken part in mundane activities such as buying groceries, but for the first time, it was only Eijirou and you who were doing so together. And, going against all odds and all of your worries, it was not awkward at all.

“So, we got coffee, milk, bread and bottled water. We still need detergent and hand soap,” you recited, reading off the shopping list you had prepared on your phone.

“Hand soap? We never have hand soap,” Eijirou answered with surprising certainty, turning the shopping cart and heading down the aisle towards household necessities, you following closely behind him.

“Yeah, and I worry about what that says about your relationship with hygiene.” Their apartment was fairly clean, especially in the light of their being three male (barely-still-)teenagers, but you (rightly) attributed that to Katsuki’s neatness more than anything.

“Alright, alright, we are getting hand soap, new queen of the apartment.” His laugh was contagious.

“You don’t actually mind my being around so much, do you?” You were laughing along with him. Still, for a moment there, you were scared he was going to give you an answer you would not like.

“Not at all! You’re friendly, you clean up more of a mess than you make, and Bakugou’s less grumpy when you’re there. If anyone moves out, I vote it’s him.”

You scoffed. “You don’t actually mean that.”

He grinned his brightest of grins. “I really don’t. He’s kind of my best friend.”

Taking two pink bottles of detergent from the shelves and putting them inside the cart, you added onto your statement. “Besides, once he’s gone, I’m gone.”

“Right,” he said without missing a beat. “I forgot you’re a package deal. It’s still kinda hard to believe Bakugou has a girlfriend.”

The reply you had become used to giving to insinuations such as this one came without the need for you to exceed much thought. “I’m not his girlfriend.”

The noise Eijirou gave instead of saying anything in response said more than enough: Sure, if that’s what you want to believe.

“…and this concludes the perspective I wanted to share with you on the topic of secondary characteristics of less common quirks. Thank you for your attention. If you have any remaining questions, now’s the time to ask.”

While it may have sounded rather professional, that was only the case because you had repeated those sentences to yourself again and again last night until you had known them by heart. It was your first time speaking in front of an audience in years. Before you had been forced to press pause on your university career, you had somehow managed to avoid all seminars that required presentations as part of their grading system. Now, you had intentionally fit several of them into your semester schedule as a challenge to yourself. The first one was done with.

You could feel your heart beating in your tongue and you had stumbled over your words a few times. Your hands were clammy and shaking. But, and this was the most important notion to take away from today – you had survived.

The auditorium was too large for the two dozen people sitting in it. Their lack of further questions was almost certainly not due to your presentational skills but rather due to the general loss of enthusiasm students tended to experience at some point between their first and sixth semester.

After receiving some mostly favorable feedback from your professor, you left the building and headed off campus. You could not wait to tell your not-boyfriend about what you had achieved today.

Speaking of secondary characteristics of uncommon quirks – you had realized early on that Katsuki’s skin was flawless. For a while, you had chalked it up to simple great luck or a kind puberty. It was only after you had participated in several sessions of your aforementioned seminar about uncommon quirks that you had begun to entertain the possibility that those two phenomena might be related.

“So, not only do you get an awesome quirk, but it actually clears up your skin at the same time? That’s so unfair!” you complained from where you were sitting next to him on his bed.

“That’s just how glycerin works, woman.” His smirk let you know that although it was pure luck that he had been able to draw from such a good gene pool, he was at least a little proud of it.

“Still, it’s so not fair. Ten years from now, I’ll probably look twenty years older than I do now, and you’ll still be a walking skincare ad.”

“If that bothers you already, you’ll fucking love my mom. She’s almost fifty and looks like she never fucking turned thirty.”

You could have sworn that your heart stopped for about three and a half seconds right there. It was clear to you he had meant nothing by it. So, you decided to smooth it over by saying something by which you meant nothing at all, either.

“What reason would I have to meet my not-boyfriend’s mother? To congratulate her on her clear skin?”

“You could congratulate her on creating me, a.k.a. the greatest fucking thing that’s ever happened to you.” Considering how arrogant he could be and how dry he kept his voice when saying things like these, it could be difficult to mistake his specific brand of humor for serious statements. You, however, knew better.

Still, for a moment, you were inclined to grab a pillow from his bed and hit him over the head with it. Instead, you let yourself fall backwards so you were lying on the mattress. “Well, I guess you do have a handful of good qualities if I’m squinting. Five, maybe, if I were to count.”

He raised an eyebrow at you. You responded – very maturely – by sticking out your tongue at him. He accepted the unspoken challenge. Less than a moment later, he had you pinned underneath his body, straddling your thighs and holding your wrists above your head with both hands.

“Is fucking you until you can’t walk straight on the list?”

You arched your back, trying to push your breasts against his chest and whining when his grasp on you proved too tight for you to do so. “It’s at the very top,” you promised into his mouth, and then he was kissing you.

You had not had any alcohol since that fateful night at the club.

Letting down your guard around strangers made you feel threatened, so Katsuki and you had gone clubbing less and less, as well. Perhaps it was for the best – you were an adult after all, so maybe you could afford to have a lifestyle befitting one.

You also could not bring yourself to wear the clothes from that night again. So you packed them into a carton, along with some books that reminded you of the people that had gifted them to you and that were no longer part of your life. Then, you donated that box to the charity shop down the road from your home.

It was a shame that Katsuki’s room provided no other seating option for two besides his bed. Or maybe it actually was not that much of a shame, since it was your preferred place to be anyways. He had spent good money on the mattress, and your back agreed with you on the decision to spend as little time as possible at your own apartment. Said apartment was becoming more of a storage space than anything at this point.

What did the two of you even do together with all of those joint hours?

All kinds of things, really. A lot of it was sex, or lead-up to sex, or post-coital coexistence. Any time left over after subtracting those pastimes was just the both of you doing your own thing while coincidentally in the same room. You enjoyed it. You liked occupying the same space as him. You appreciated breathing the same air as him.

In all truth, you could probably spend the rest of your life lying next to him like this and simply looking at him.

He had not got dressed yet, but it was not like he had ever minded being nude. Reading the news on his phone, he was not looking in your direction, allowing you to watch him. You were plenty sure he still knew that you were watching him, however. He was more attentive than he would ever admit out loud, and somehow, he tended to simply know things.

Sometimes, you wondered what he saw in you. It was clear to you why you stuck with him. He was gorgeous, from his spiky blond hair to those red eyes you wanted to drown in, from the scar below his collarbone to his long, muscular legs. But beyond his picturesque body, beyond even the sex that was genuinely the best you had ever had, there was the fact that things were easy with him.

When you had told him about your disorder, you had expected it to be the end of your story. But it had not been. Instead, without wasting a lot of pretty words, he had simply accepted it as fact and moved on. It was what he did for everything you did and shared with him. When you had mentioned that you were going back to university, his response had been, “About time.”

(If he were anyone but himself, it would not have come across even nearly as supportive.)

When you had told him about how well your presentation had gone, he had asked, “What else had you expected?”

(And if he were anyone but himself, it would not have sounded nearly as proud.)

But he must have seen something in you, else he would not have kept you around for this long. You did not know what it was, but you were grateful for it nonetheless.

At this point, it was becoming hard to imagine a life without him.

It had always been hard for you to tell the difference between obsession and love. It was even more so now that Katsuki had made himself at home in the greater scheme of your life. But maybe you had been wrong to assume that you could only ever either be obsessed or in love. Maybe you had been so scared of anything that could at all be interpreted as something akin to a symptom of mania that you had never let yourself consider that one did not work without at least a tiny bit of the other.

After all, what was love if not a mild form of insanity?

The fancy-looking cream envelope had been sitting on Katsuki’s desk for weeks now. You had first noticed it when you had sat down there to work on your presentation. It had been in the way, and you had put it to the side without giving it much thought.

The next day, it had been right back in its former place, as if it had never been moved. Still, you gave it little to no thought.

A few days later, you were packing your bag, getting ready to go back to your own place for the first time in a week. (The mail did not check itself.) You set it on the desk chair while you were folding your worn clothes. (Perhaps, a load of laundry would also prove commendable.)

In doing so, you accidentally knocked over the folded card that was sitting upright on the desk, the surrounding envelope now gone. You set it back up, automatically reading the beginning of the first sentence. ‘You are cordially invited to…’

Then you stopped, a little annoyed that you had read anything at all. It was not your invitation, and thus none of your business. You made sure it looked untouched, finished packing and left.

A little while later, you found yourself in a hurry to arrive at university on time. The mornings were becoming colder, and, as these things with indirect proportionality tend to work, Katsuki’s bed was becoming harder to leave with each passing day. While you ran into the stairway with your hair yet unbrushed, your note pad lay on the desk, forgotten about.

It was a long day, which made your lack of note paper all the more jarring. When you came back to Katsuki’s that evening, your note pad was waiting for you. With the fancy invitation somehow having found its way on top of it. It became clear that these were not coincidences at all.

‘You are cordially invited to the 27th annual Heroes’ Gala to celebrate the strides our society has made since the advent of quirks and heroism. We will be accepting donations, all of which are to go into the Official Hero Registry’s fund to compensate and support civilians who have been hurt or who have experienced damage at the hands of villains. Please let us know whether you will be in attendance, and whether you will have someone joining you.’

Beneath the text, there was further information on the date, place and exact time.

You had not even taken your coat off yet, and you did not. Instead, you turned on your heel, walking towards the kitchen with the omnipresent invitation still in your hand.

Inside the kitchen, there was Katsuki in front of the stove, finishing dinner. (He liked to cook. You enjoyed your position as a beneficiary.) He did not even jump a little when you poked his lower back with the card – it seemed he had become so used to your presence that hardly anything surprised him anymore.

Without further greeting, you launched straight into the topic at hand. “So, where am I gonna find this next? Inside the closet, conveniently stored between my underwear?” You were trying hard not to sound as amused as you were. He was so bad at these things, and you loved him for it. It was getting harder not to think that word, love.

“I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about,” was his reply, was his lie, because he could see the piece of paper in your hand and because he obviously knew what you were talking about.

“I’m talking about this charity gala thing. What is it?”

“It’s stupid, is what it is.” He was refusing to look at you, instead stirring the vegetables inside the pan with a lot more gusto than necessary. “It’s this shitty important hero bullshit. It’s dumb as hell.”

“And also, you really want to go there,” you added, voicing out loud what he was incapable of saying.

A lack of reply was also a reply.

After a moment of silence, you continued. “You know, I’m just gonna put this out there. If you want me to go with you, you might just have to actually ask me.”

As the seconds passed, the distance between you did not change, but your perception of it did. Eventually, you were unable to take both the silence and the distance, so you had to get rid of at least one of them. You stepped behind him, wrapping your arms around his slim waist and resting your cheek between his shoulder blades. He smelled like frying oil and sweat and all-around perfect. The heat from the stove reminded you that you were still wearing your coat. It did not matter.

What mattered was that after a much-too-long silence for a simple question such as this one, he asked, “Would you?”

You had had your fair share of hesitation for one night. For one lifetime. “I would.”

[shannrussell-blog1]

I recently got home from a trip to Nepal to do the Ama Dablam Base Camp Trek with seven other women.

One of my friends from a group I hike with, planned on doing this trek and asked if I wanted to come along. I’ve wanted to visit Nepal for a while so I jumped at the chance, booking annual leave from work for the following year when we planned to go.

She had heard that this particular trek was the most beautiful one to do in Nepal and, not that I’ve done any others, but I’d have to agree.

Where is it located?

Ama Dablam is located in the Everest region with most of the trail being on the popular Everest route. Then with about two days walk to the top, the trail turns off on its own path and becomes less crowded.

Our destination – the beautiful Ama Dablam. 

Using a tour company

My friend who organised the trip opted to use a tour company by the name of Keep Walking Nepal, and I’m so glad she did! Everything was taken care of for us and they looked after us so well. All we had to do was arrange our own flights to Kathmandu. The company picked us all up from the airport (even those who were on a different flight) and took us to our hotel which was all arranged by the company.

We had an itinerary planned for the trip that included days of leisure either side of the trek which was great for sightseeing and shopping! We had some nice dinners together before and after the trek while in Kathmandu and even had a city tour included for us.

Having almost everything taken care of for you is something I would highly recommend. 

Difficulty level

The Ama Dablam Base Camp trek is an 11-day trek and is rated at a moderate difficulty level, so a reasonable level of fitness is required. We were never really told the number of km, they just worked off time so I’m still not sure how many km the trek is all up.

Most of the days were fairly short with a couple of them done by lunchtime. We walked at a fairly slow pace and even slower on the inclines.

A snap of me with Ama Dablam in the background. 

Here’s a copy of our itinerary:

Day 1 – arrive in Kathmandu (meet and greet)

Day 2 – sightseeing in Kathmandu

Day 3 – fly to Lukla, trek to Phakding (approx 3- hrs)

Day 4 – trek to Monjo (approx 3-4hrs)

Day 5 – trek to Namche Bazaar (approx 4-5hrs)

Day 6 – rest day at Namche Bazaar

Day 7 – trek to Deboche via Tengboche (approx 5-6hrs)

Day 8 – trek to Mingbo (approx 4-5hrs)

Day 9 – trek to Ama Dablam Base Camp then to Pangboche (approx 4-5hrs)

Day 10 – trek to Phortse (approx 3-4hrs)

Day 11 – trek to Khumjung (approx 3-4hrs)

Day 12 – trek to Monjo (approx 5-6hrs)

Day 13 – trek to Lukla (approx 4-5hrs)

Day 14 – fly to Kathmandu, rest of day at leisure

Day 15 – trip concludes

There were a few steep accents but the guides take it really slow so that it still remains enjoyable. Of course, if you really wanted you could go ahead which is what one or two of the women in my group did on occasion.

Our group when we made it to base camp!

Fitness and preparation

To prepare for my trip, I would do laps of my local lookout. This has quite a steep but short accent so I’d do a few of them a couple of times per week. I was worried about my fitness level before my trip, but they take it quite slow that I don’t think it’s much of an issue. If you can handle the odd mountain climb at a slow pace then you’d be fine.

You will need to do some training before your hike, just so you’re in good shape. 

Acclimatisation

Ama Dablam Base Camp is at 4600m so acclimatisation on the way up is required to reduce the risk of altitude sickness.

We had a rest day (even though we didn’t rest) in Namche Bazaar at 3440m high to help with acclimatisation. On our rest day, we climbed up to the Everest View Lodge at 3880m, had a drink and came back down.

You will stop along the way to help acclimatise on the trek.

Vaccinations

After visiting my doctor and telling him where I was going, he suggested I start the Hep B shots as well as a Hep A/Typhoid combination shot. Though, it’s worth checking with your doctor as they might recommend something different for you.

Permits

As we do enter the Sagarmatha National Park I believe that you would need some sort of permit but this was all taken care of by Keep Walking Nepal.

The Lukla airport is where most people begin their Mt Everest or Ama Dablam Base Camp treks.

Costs for the trip

The price of the trek itself is $2080 USD but we were asked to put down a $500 USD deposit out of that total price to book our place.

The rest could be paid in cash when we got there. I had the remaining exchanged into US dollars so I could hand it over as soon as I got there.

My flights cost me $1087 to Kathmandu return from Adelaide flying with Cathay Pacific.

I had to renew my passport so that was another expense.

We were told to have the right cash in US dollars for our visa which was a 30-day visa costing $40 USD. We just went over the 15-day visa option as we had a couple more days either side of the trek in Kathmandu, otherwise, a 15-day visa costs $25 USD.

The rest of my trip expenses went on tipping my guides and porters (our tour company suggested $8-9 USD per person per day but more or less is up to you) and spending money. Everything over there is a lot cheaper than in Australia. If you allowed as much as you would for any other holiday, then you should have enough spending money.

The good thing about using a tour company is that the costs include almost everything.

Our porters

We had a 10kg limit for stuff we didn’t want to carry with us during the day but wanted on the trek that the porters carried for us. I packed super light as I didn’t want to load my porter up with much. All I used for the trip was my day pack, so I just gave my porter a small packing cell of my clothes to carry.

Some of the other women went over their 10kg limit, so they ended up putting some things in my bag. All the weight got shared around so it ended up working out well.

As we used porters, it meant we didn’t have to carry much gear. 

Gear to bring

There’s a video I made on my YouTube channel of everything I took on the trip and how I packed my pack if you want to check that out.

The following is the list we were given to use as a guide:

Hiking boots – preferably worn in but with good grip.

Lighter weight shoes or Hiking socks – 4 thick, 3 lighter weight pairs

4 or 5 Lightweight trekking shirts or t-shirts. During a trek day you will get hot so it’s good to carry a spare in your daypack.

1 heavier weight top – sloppy joe or heavier jumper

2 to 3 shorts or trekking trousers

Underwear – 5 pairs comfortable – cotton/polyester – just be careful to avoid friction (chafing)

Toiletries – usual essentials (include some soap) but it’s also good to bring wet wipes as they’re very useful

Our tour company provided a down sleeping bag, a down jacket, and toilet paper in a kit bag, along with the rest of your gear that the porters carry.

Spring is a great time to visit, as the weather is good and it’s not as busy.

What’s the best time of the year to go?

There are two main trekking seasons in Nepal: Spring and Autumn. Their Autumn (September to November) is the most popular trekking season as mountain views are at their best, however it is incredibly busy!

If you’re not a huge fan of snow then I’d recommend going when we went, which was late April – early May. That’s their Spring and it’s beautiful there. On our trek, we saw so many gorgeous rhododendrons (their national flower) in full bloom. It was stunning!

We went in spring, so we experienced the beautiful rhododendrons in bloom. 

Let’s talk about food

It was recommended to bring any snacks we might want during the day and carry them in our day packs, however, we were fed so well that none of us really ate our snack food at all!

The snack food that I took with me consisted of mixed nuts, beef jerky, dark chocolate, lollies and Clif gel shots, which I did actually have before a couple of the big climbs to give me more energy.

We had breakfasts of pretty much whatever we wanted, whether it be toast, cereal, eggs, pancakes etc. Then we had a cooked lunch, dinner and dessert every day! We ate so much food!

The menu consisted mainly of soups, egg meals such as omelettes, pasta, and traditional dhal bhat and momos. My favourite momos were the cheese and potato. Delicious!

We took our own snacks, but we didn’t even need it as we were fed so well.

Accommodation

The Ama Dablam Base Camp Trek is an 11-day lodge-based trek so we stayed in lodges and tea houses.

The rooms were always twin share with about half of them having a bathroom as well. Most of the showers were free. There was only one place that charged us for a shower but as we each got a big dish of hot water in the morning we didn’t really need to pay for a shower.

The beds were always made up with a sheet and pillow and usually had a thick blanket or quilt folded up on the end. We were provided with sleeping bags and took our own sleeping bag liners but sometimes we needed the blanket or quilt on us as well.

The view from my lodge on the first day of my trip. 

I didn’t want to go home!

If you’re thinking about heading over to Nepal for a trek, I strongly recommend you consider the Ama Dablam Base Camp Trek with Keep Walking Nepal.

For a whole video series on my adventure, head to my YouTube channel, where I break each day into a short video of the trip.

If you leave during April, you’ll see their beautiful flowers out in bloom everywhere and it’s not too cold. I hate the cold and even though it snowed on us one day, I still enjoyed it.

After wanting to make a visit to Nepal for some time, I would say that Ama Dablam Base Camp trek was definitely worth the journey.

Happy escapades!

  Out of all the spectacular treks that Nepal is known for, which one is your favourite?

The post Guide to Ama Dablam Base Camp Trek in Nepal appeared first on Snowys Blog.

[effervescentmind]

Entry 21: 03.23.20 b

I wanted to talk more indepth about my job and housing concerns and also tie in another dynamic in my life right now. I met someone online in August and at first it was just a fwb type of arrangment. He would come over once a weekish and we would spend some time together, laugh and sleep together. Sometimes we would just sleep and not have sex but he ended up slowly staying over until the next morning and then it just became a regular thing for him to sleepover. He’s a nice guy and has his shit together, makes money and has a lot of awesome goals. He’s self-motivated, encouraging and funny and I really enjoy him. Sometimes we go out and we always have a good time but I didnt want anything and he knew that. I was still hurting and trying to figure myself out and redefine who I was after my last two relationships. He knew that and was ok with it but then starting hinting he wanted more. I denied him at first but eventually warmed up to him. He started to do nice little things for me and showed me he cared and paid attention to me. He would surprise me with little dates, gifts or practical things I needed. I would get good morning texts everyday and checked on throughtout the day...I’m speaking in past tense but all of these things still happen and on an even bigger scale now but he doesnt want to be in a relationship and I dont understand him. I did reject the idea at first but about a month or two later I told him I had feelings for him and he completely acted like he didnt talk to me about a relationship and tried to make me think I was confused. I showed him text messages and told him things he said to me...even when we went to the movies and he was talking about how he was going to teach his kids to swim (it was a reference to something in the movie) and he included me in his fantasy, as the Mother. Ive talked to him twice about it and tried to push him away but he comes back and tells me what I want to hear. I dont know though, the last time we spoke about it, he told me he didnt know what he wanted and that hes trying to figure out if he wants a relationship. He said hes used to women trying to be with him because they want to live off him but he likes that I dont try any of that with him. He likes that I have my own goals and plans for my career and life and supports me all the way but he needs time to figure himself out. I told him to do it by himself and not waste my time. He told me he wants me to be patient with him and he promises that he isnt wasting my time, thats its not just about sex. Then he referred to himself as a broken, rough flower that I can prune and water to my perfection and liking...I dont agree with that viewpoint. I dont think that I need to put in this much work and turn you into what I want. Shouldnt I like you for who you are? Shouldnt you be giving me all the communication, time and vulnerability I want and give too? Why must I be subjected to bullshit first before I get the man I deserve? No. I wont settle for that. I wont do it. There are plenty of other men out there and I know the mature, put-together, driven, loving man I seek is out there. I dont have to settle on someone because they like the idea of having me but still want to party and talk to more than one female at a time. 

I decided that I would give him a chance until I leave Texas. I am currently making plans like I’m single because I FUCKING AM and I will not let a man keep me in a place I dont want to be if he is not sacrificing anything for me. So, I’m waiting to see if he is warming up but at the same time not stopping my progress. If I end up needing to leave and he still aint tryna do shit with me then adios senor. At this point, I feel like he’s a better friend than a boyfriend for me. He has helped me alot. He has helped me fix my credit, paid my rent (without being asked) when I was going through it with BWW, bought me toiletries and encouraged me throughout these last months about my future but there is no emotional connection. He isnt there for me emotionally and there is no passion between us. I just don’t want to be with someone that has it all but can’t be emotionally there for you and does the bare minimum to keep you around. He’s not a bad guy, I just dont think he wants me like that and I dont want to waste my time. I’m finally ready to be in love and I want to do it with someone that makes my heart dance. He just makes my heart ache.

With that being said, my plans are changing by the day but currently I have five options. The first (chronologically) is to stay with my friend who referred me to BWW. We met at PFC’s in October/November. My original plan was to get another job, not renew my lease and get a room for rent while I save for a downpayment on a car. I wanted to put all my things in storage and take my time looking around for a nicer apartment that I felt was right for me. This apartment I currently live in, I rushed into to get away from a shitty relationship and I want better for myself. That plan slightly changed because I wasnt making money and stuck between jobs. So my friend told me I could stay with her as long as I needed. I was happy but quickly decided that it was a bad idea. I got to know her more and she is all over the place and does a lot of stupid things. She’s young, constantly quitting jobs, playing guys for their money, letting stupid boys break her heart, trying any kind of drug and no realistic plan for her future. She also has a quick temper, blows things out of proportion and is reckless. She texted me one day saying that she was going to move to florida and that I could take over her lease if I wanted. Then that plan changed and she doesnt know when shes leaving and keeps changing what shes doing. Then she got fired from her job and got pregnant by a dumb boy that I kept warning her to stay away from. I decided to look into other options. Havent told her and I dont plan on it, just going to keep it moving and avoid that train-wreck of a situation. 

My next option is to move into another coworkers house. She lives with her brothers and mother. Her mother travels a lot for work and currently is gone until the end of May. I would be renting out the master bedroom and bathroom for 600/month. Its a really nice, big house but I would have to leave at the end of may which is fine because I do want my own place asap. This last year living by myself has been wonderful and exactly what I’ve needed my whole life lol. I’m not afraid to live alone and sleep alone. It’s peaceful and I’ve done a lot of self-discovery. I stay organized and have all the space and quiet I need from the outside world. 

My third option is to stay with a friend and her boyfriend. The have a spare bedroom, are quiet and I hangout with them every now and again. It would be nice to stay with them because I know them a little more and they are much closer to my job than my other coworker is. Also, she works at PFC’s still so sometimes we could carpool and that would save me money on lyft.

The fourth option is to stay with my older sister in Jax. She called me last night and we talked for about 4-5 hours. We always do that. We wont speak for months and then just have a whole random purge one night lol. Anyway, after I caught her up on my life, she told me that she would help me in any way she could. She would send me money and if I wanted to, I could come live with her and the kids until I get on my feet. Her saying that lifted such a huge weight off my shoulders. She always has my back and I love her so much. I really feel that I may end up tying up all my finaical loose ends here and moving back to Florida with her. I never wanted to go back to Jacksonville but sometimes you need to take a step back to be able to move forward and it’ll be nice to finally meet my niece and nephew. And I havent seen my sister since she left for the Navy. We both went through so much pain and so many changes after that...It will feel good to have her around and rebuild our bond. I miss her so much. 

My last option is one that I hope to never have to do, because it brings me so much anxiety, and that is to talk to one on my aunts, on my dad’s side, and ask if I can live with them. I’m confdent that they would say yes but man...I’m not ready for all that. Theres too much baggage and unpacking I need to do before I can fully immerse myself into them. I want to eventually reunite and start creating a relationship but I know I need to do it on my own terms and from a distance for my own sanity. I’ll write more on that in it’s own entry. 

Well, thats where I’m at right now. Just waiting on this coronavirus to die down and see where that leaves me. Wish me luck.